Manhunt Underway for Escaped Murderer in Ohio

John Modie, 58, discovered missing late Sunday
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 28, 2016 8:54 AM CDT
Manhunt Underway for Escaped Murderer in Ohio
John Modie   (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction)

A search is underway for a convicted murderer who escaped from a prison in Nelsonville, Ohio. Prison officials say John Modie, 58—sentenced to 15 years to life for the murder of a woman in Cleveland in 2003—was discovered missing from the Hocking Unit of the Southeastern Correctional Institution at 11pm on Sunday during an inmate count, per the Columbus Dispatch and Cleveland.com. Officials confirmed he escaped after a search of the prison, about 60 miles southeast of Columbus, per an NBC4 reporter, though he could still be on prison grounds.

Police say Modie, also convicted of robbery and escape, is considered dangerous and may have sought shelter after an overnight storm. They add he has links to Washington County, though he was convicted in Cuyahoga County, reports NBC4. He's described as a 6-foot-4 white male weighing 230 pound, with gray hair, a gray mustache, and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a blue hoodie, gray sweatshirt, and blue pants. Hocking College, located near the prison, canceled morning classes on Monday, per WBNS, noting "a dangerous inmate has escaped from [a] local prison." (More prison break stories.)

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