Woman arrested 38 years after walking away from halfway house

In February 1977, a woman walked away from a North Carolina halfway house. She had been convicted of writing bad checks worth more than $200 in 1974. On May 14, 2015, a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested the now 68-year-old woman.

The capture resulted from the work of an FBI and North Carolina Department of Public Safety combined task force. The task force’s goal is to locate 147 North Carolina escaped inmates and return them to prison. Those inmates were convicted of a variety of crimes, including drug possession, kidnapping, firearm violations and murder. According to one task force officer, it doesn’t matter what the original conviction was for. They will try to locate all 147 inmates.

Most of the escapes occurred in the 1960s to 1980s; however, there is also a case from 1947. The program started last year and in that time, 14 of the escapees have been located in state or federal prisons, 18 are deceased and eight were captured and returned to prison. Another five were simply listed as captured by “other means.”

The 68-year-old woman spent 30 days in solitary after being returned to prison as punishment for escaping. She said that she committed the crime so that she could feed and clothe her seven children. She was sentenced to four years after violating her probation by writing more worthless checks. She served three and a half years of that sentence, being transferred to the halfway house for the last few months. She only had two months left on her sentence when she walked away.

Running from charges or even a sentence is not in your best interest. However, you should make sure you are represented by an experienced attorney if you are ready to surrender. This will help ensure that your rights are protected.

Source: Statesville Record and Landmark, “38 years after prison escape, FBI knocks on woman’s door,” Sep. 14, 2015