Escapee, fiancee back in custody

PHOENIX -- An escaped state prison inmate and his fiancee who were targets of a nationwide manhunt have been captured at an Arizona campground after an alert forest ranger spotted a stolen vehicle hidden in the trees, officials said.

John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch, who also are cousins, were taken into custody about 7 p.m. Thursday at a campsite in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in northeastern Arizona. Officials say Welch at first wielded a gun when confronted, but dropped it when she saw she was outgunned by a SWAT team. McCluskey was in a sleeping bag and taken into custody without incident.

Said David Gonzales, U.S. marshal for Arizona: "The nightmare that started July 30th is finally over."

Sgt. Richard Guinn of the Apache County sheriff's office said a team of officers arrested McCluskey and Welch, and the couple were taken to the county jail in St. Johns. "They have been positively identified," Guinn said.

The team included county, state and federal law enforcement officers, who recovered two handguns from the couple's campsite, Guinn said.

McCluskey was among three prisoners who escaped July 30 from a privately operated state prison in Kingman, with the help of Welch, authorities said. The other two inmates were recaptured in Colorado and Wyoming.

Welch helped McCluskey, Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick escape by cutting through a security fence.

Renwick was recaptured in Rifle, Colo., on Aug. 1, and Province was found in Meeteetse, Wyo., on Aug. 9.

Renwick and Province were serving time for murder. McCluskey was serving five years for attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharge of a firearm.

Province, McCluskey and Welch have been linked to the slayings of Greg and Linda Haas of Tecumseh, Okla. The couple's burned bodies were found in a travel trailer Aug. 4 on a remote ranch near Santa Rosa, N.M. They had been traveling to Colorado on an annual trip.

A report released Thursday by Arizona officials outlined a series of embarrassing security breakdowns that allowed the escape, including a defective alarm system and an unstaffed perimeter post.