An escaped inmate on the run for 56 years has finally been captured vacationing in the backwaters of Florida.
Convict Frank Freshwaters originally flew the coop in 1959 where he had been incarcerated on an Ohio prison farm for vehicular manslaughter.
But in 1975, when he was recaptured, the sly slayer once again eluded law enforcement, and since that date no one had a clue if he was dead or alive.
This week, however, an answer to that burning question has at last been provided: Old man Freshwaters had been keeping a low profile in the Sunshine State in a no-fringe trailer home, and, of course, under an alias.
The 80-year-old’s cover as “William Harold Cox“ was blown when police created an elaborate ruse to bring him out of hiding on the pretext of winning something.
That enabled US Marshalls and county officials to get Frank Freshwaters’ autograph and a new set of fingerprints which, surprise, surprise, matched up perfectly with the ones they already had on file.
“You got me,” the geriatric gangster begrudgingly admitted when confronted outside his modest dwelling by a posse of lawmen and a pair of shiny handcuffs.
That belated victory made US Marshall Peter Elliott from the Cleveland division all but gloat with satisfaction today.
“We have a saying in the Marshals Service, 'Let no guilty man escape',” Elliot proudly bragged. “And that is so true in this case."
