One of three inmates who escaped from a northwest Arizona prison has been captured, authorities said Sunday.
Arizona Department of Corrections spokesman Barrett Marson said Daniel Renwick was caught early Sunday in Rifle, Colo., about 670 miles from the prison and three hours outside of Denver.
Renwick was serving 22 years for second-degree murder when he and two other men escaped Friday evening by cutting a hole through a perimeter fence at the Arizona State Prison in Golden Valley, about 90 miles southeast of Las Vegas. They have since kidnapped two semi-truck drivers at gunpoint and used their big rig to flee.
The other two inmates remain at large. They are Tracy Province, who was serving a life sentence for murder and robbery, and John McCluskey, who was serving 15 years for second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharge of a firearm.
Flagstaff police Sgt. James Jackson said a woman identified as Casslyn Mae Welch, 44, met the men and helped in their escape, and at about 5 a.m. Saturday, the group kidnapped two drivers of a semi-truck in Kingman and forced them at gunpoint to drive two hours east to Flagstaff.
The group left the drivers, unharmed, in the truck at a stop just off Interstate 40 and then fled in an unknown direction, Jackson said.
"The truck drivers were lucky to get away unscathed," he said. "I mean, they've been convicted of murder and they're escaping from prison."
Marson said Welch had visited one of the inmates, but he did not immediately know which one.
Pat Carter, a spokeswoman for the Mohave County sheriff's office, said Welch was seen at the prison before the escape driving a blue 1996 Chrysler Concord car with Arizona license plate ABL7584. The car hasn't been found.
Authorities urged anyone with information on the escaped prisoners to use caution and call police immediately.
Province was last seen wearing dark blue jeans, a dark purple polo shirt with red stripes, and white tennis shoes. McCluskey was wearing light-color blue jeans, a white button-up shirt with horizontal and vertical blue stripes, and white tennis shoes. There was no information about Renwick's clothing.
Management and Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah, operates the prison. The company operates 17 correctional facilities in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Idaho and Ohio, according to its website.
