(Trends Wide) — Michael Burham, the inmate who escaped from a northwestern Pennsylvania jail, is likely still in the area and is receiving help while evading 200 security agents hot on his trail, said George Bivens, a state police lieutenant colonel. this Tuesday at a press conference.
Burham allegedly climbed a piece of exercise equipment to get off a roof last Thursday and came down with a rope of sheets, court documents have revealed with new details about the day he escaped from prison.
Surveillance footage shows Burham and other inmates going in and out of his cell, said the complaint filed by the city of Warren on Friday.
The search continued Tuesday for Burham, who authorities described as “armed and dangerous” with survival skills and military experience. He reportedly escaped last Thursday from the Warren County Jail, where he was being held on charges of arson and robbery and as a suspect in a homicide.
Warren Police said Burham “is also linked to the carjacking and kidnapping of a local couple while trying to escape capture.”
Bivens noted that the evidence leads him to believe that Burham is still in the area.
“We keep finding things. That leads me to believe that there is still a possibility that he is here,” she told reporters, without elaborating. Some of those objects have been found in the last 24 hours, she said. “I also note the lack of evidence that he has gone elsewhere.”
Among the tips that have come in “on a very regular basis” are reports Monday and overnight of Burham sightings, but Bivens said none of those investigations have yielded results.
Investigators have used rapid DNA tests at cabins and other burglary sites, but none have been associated with Burham, though some results are pending, according to Bivens.
Bivens told reporters that the pace and scope of the search have increased dramatically, and that he believes Burham will be caught.
“We are not leaving. There is no doubt that we will imprison you again. It’s just a matter of time, ”he said, addressing the fugitive.
Burham is believed to have had supplies for “an extended stay in the area,” Bivens said a day earlier.
“He was seen standing on a pull-up bar”
Burham was seen walking across the prison gym courtyard at about 10:41 p.m. while three other inmates sat on the floor talking, according to the complaint.
At around 11:26 p.m., Burham “was seen standing on a pull-up bar” in the prison gym and exited through a metal-barred roof, the document added.
Security forces search for inmate Michael Burham who escaped in Warren County, Pennsylvania on July 11, 2023. (Credit: WICU)
After escaping from the gym, Burham “tied a rope consisting of several sheets tied together. He then tied the rope from the ceiling and let it hang from a porch,” the complaint stated.
Burham then proceeded to slide down the rope, “landed on the gantry, and jumped from there to the ground.” He then fled the facility on foot, according to the complaint.
Details of the alleged kidnapping
Trends Wide also obtained court documents detailing the alleged kidnapping that landed Burham in prison in May.
Burham abducted an elderly couple – David and Jessica Anundson – at gunpoint from their Sheffield, Pennsylvania, home on May 20, according to the Warren County criminal complaint.
Burham forced the couple into his vehicle and drove them to the North Charleston, South Carolina area, where he forced them out at a cemetery and went on the run, according to the complaint.
The complaint also states that the Anundsons “feared serious bodily injury or death.”
Law enforcement believe Burham was “staying on or near the property and was monitoring” the couple’s residence for about a week, based on information the couple provided.
Kristina Sgueglia, Nic Anderson and Artemis Moshtaghian, all from Trends Wide, contributed to this report.
(Trends Wide) — Michael Burham, the inmate who escaped from a northwestern Pennsylvania jail, is likely still in the area and is receiving help while evading 200 security agents hot on his trail, said George Bivens, a state police lieutenant colonel. this Tuesday at a press conference.
Burham allegedly climbed a piece of exercise equipment to get off a roof last Thursday and came down with a rope of sheets, court documents have revealed with new details about the day he escaped from prison.
Surveillance footage shows Burham and other inmates going in and out of his cell, said the complaint filed by the city of Warren on Friday.
The search continued Tuesday for Burham, who authorities described as “armed and dangerous” with survival skills and military experience. He reportedly escaped last Thursday from the Warren County Jail, where he was being held on charges of arson and robbery and as a suspect in a homicide.
Warren Police said Burham “is also linked to the carjacking and kidnapping of a local couple while trying to escape capture.”
Bivens noted that the evidence leads him to believe that Burham is still in the area.
“We keep finding things. That leads me to believe that there is still a possibility that he is here,” she told reporters, without elaborating. Some of those objects have been found in the last 24 hours, she said. “I also note the lack of evidence that he has gone elsewhere.”
Among the tips that have come in “on a very regular basis” are reports Monday and overnight of Burham sightings, but Bivens said none of those investigations have yielded results.
Investigators have used rapid DNA tests at cabins and other burglary sites, but none have been associated with Burham, though some results are pending, according to Bivens.
Bivens told reporters that the pace and scope of the search have increased dramatically, and that he believes Burham will be caught.
“We are not leaving. There is no doubt that we will imprison you again. It’s just a matter of time, ”he said, addressing the fugitive.
Burham is believed to have had supplies for “an extended stay in the area,” Bivens said a day earlier.
“He was seen standing on a pull-up bar”
Burham was seen walking across the prison gym courtyard at about 10:41 p.m. while three other inmates sat on the floor talking, according to the complaint.
At around 11:26 p.m., Burham “was seen standing on a pull-up bar” in the prison gym and exited through a metal-barred roof, the document added.
Security forces search for inmate Michael Burham who escaped in Warren County, Pennsylvania on July 11, 2023. (Credit: WICU)
After escaping from the gym, Burham “tied a rope consisting of several sheets tied together. He then tied the rope from the ceiling and let it hang from a porch,” the complaint stated.
Burham then proceeded to slide down the rope, “landed on the gantry, and jumped from there to the ground.” He then fled the facility on foot, according to the complaint.
Details of the alleged kidnapping
Trends Wide also obtained court documents detailing the alleged kidnapping that landed Burham in prison in May.
Burham abducted an elderly couple – David and Jessica Anundson – at gunpoint from their Sheffield, Pennsylvania, home on May 20, according to the Warren County criminal complaint.
Burham forced the couple into his vehicle and drove them to the North Charleston, South Carolina area, where he forced them out at a cemetery and went on the run, according to the complaint.
The complaint also states that the Anundsons “feared serious bodily injury or death.”
Law enforcement believe Burham was “staying on or near the property and was monitoring” the couple’s residence for about a week, based on information the couple provided.
Kristina Sgueglia, Nic Anderson and Artemis Moshtaghian, all from Trends Wide, contributed to this report.
