NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — One of the inmates who escaped Wednesday from the Ottawa County jail in Minneapolis has been recaptured in Nebraska. The Kansas Department of Corrections said Drew Wade, convicted of armed robbery and aggravated battery from Shawnee County, was arrested in North Platte, Neb., Wednesday night. Eric James, who was serving five and a half years for kidnapping and armed robbery in connection with a 2008 home invasion in Anderson County, and Santos Carrera-Morales, convicted of two murders in Sedgwick County, remain at large. The North Platte Police Department told the Topeka Capital-Journal that Wade drove in a mini-van to North Platte and then called his father, who persuaded Wade to turn himself in. Wade walked into a North Platte Wal-Mart and asked the manager to call police. Wade and James were among four inmates who escaped. One other inmate who was escaped was recaptured shortly after the escape. The Capital-Journal reports that because of state budget cuts, the Ellsworth Correctional Facility was severely over-crowded and recently farmed out the four to the Ottawa County jail. The Salina Journal reported that the escapees enticed two jail guards by claiming there was a water leak and then used home-made knives to overpower them. The newspaper said the two guards received minor injuries. Schools in the Minneapolis area were closed Wednesday because of the escape, the Journal reported. Wednesday was a day of escapes for the state corrections department. Child molester Gary Furthmyer walked away from his minimum-security job in the boiler plant at Lansing, the corrections department reported. Furthmyer also remains at large. All escapees should be considered armed and dangerous, the corrections department said. If anyone has information concerning the escapees, call 911, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-572-7463 or the Ellsworth Correctional Facility at 785-472-5501.
Thursday, April 19, 6 a.m.
