LOWELL, Ind. — Two Mississippi prison escapees were captured Friday, ending an intensive search for the men who allegedly hijacked several vehicles and committed thefts in three states during their three weeks on the run.
Convicted killer John F. Woolard and convicted robber Roy Randall Harper surrendered peacefully a few hours apart after being surrounded by police, Sheriff John Buncich said. "Evidently, they were very tired and had some injuries from being in the underbrush for so long," he said.
Indiana State Police captured Woolard, 37, Friday morning in a field near the Indiana-Illinois line about 40 miles south of Chicago. Harper, 42, was caught earlier walking along railroad tracks in the town of St. John. Both men had loaded handguns tucked into their waistbands, authorities said.
Hours after their arrests, the men were charged with two counts each of attempted murder, attempted battery and resisting law enforcement. They were ordered held without bail until a June 23 hearing. Each men faces up to 108 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Woolard and Harper also could face charges in other states, but Mississippi authorities said Friday they want the men returned to finish their sentences. "We are going to seek to extradite Harper on back to Mississippi and let the other states file their charges after the fact," Mississippi Department of Corrections spokesman Ken Jones said.
The two were accused of a series of crimes after their escape May 28 from a state prison in Parchman, Miss.
Police said they bound and gagged a couple in their home in Webb, Miss., June 4, stole more than a dozen guns and made off in their car. They also are suspected of attacking a 56-year-old man on June 9 at a West Virginia motel, taking $300 and his van.
They were spotted in Indiana on Wednesday and allegedly fired at a police officer who had stopped their van for speeding. A high-speed chase ended at a nearby gas station after authorities blew out the van's tires. The men escaped into a nature preserve.
They stole another vehicle Thursday night and headed to St. John, and Woolard stole a van just after Harper surrendered, police said.
Authorities recovered weapons and jewelry reported stolen, along with photographs the two men had taken of each other during their flight, FBI special agent Bob Reilley said.
Woolard was serving a life sentence for murder, and Harper was serving 88 years without parole for robbery. Authorities said they escaped by cutting through a metal plate under a louvered window and a razor-wire fence.