Tip leads police to capture escapees

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- An anonymous tip led to the capture of two men Tuesday who escaped from Bollinger County Jail on Sunday. The fugitives, Casey Legate, 20, of Bollinger County and Paul Lutes, 23, of Wayne County, had overpowered a dispatcher on Sunday to escape.

They remained at large until about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, having traveled about five miles.

Officers were soaked by noon Wednesday, having searched creek beds and wooded areas, said Shawn Davis, Bollinger County chief deputy, while the escapees looked clean, dry and rested.

A tip led officers to a rural home in Glenallen, Mo., northwest of Marble Hill. Police watched the home for about an hour before they saw the fugitives, both passengers in a powder-blue Ford Ranger pickup. Officers stopped the pickup after it had traveled three miles on Highway 34.

Inside the truck were two large bags of food, but no weapons, Davis said. "It looked like they were going to hole up a while somewhere," he said.

Legate was in jail on drug charges for attempting to make methamphetamine. Lutes was in jail on armed robbery charges. Both now face felony escape charges. Davis said no other arrests are pending.

Authorities said Lutes and Legate tricked a dispatcher into opening their cell Sunday.

abuchanan@semissourian.com

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