DanHenson1/iStockBy BILL HUTCHINSON, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — The search for two inmates who escaped from a Tennessee prison Friday is over after the pair were found in Pompano Beach, Florida, Sunday, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction.
Before they were caught, the search had an added urgency after authorities said the men allegedly kidnapped a highway worker in the neighboring state of Kentucky and stole the pickup truck of a man who was found tied up in his house.
Robert Brown, who was serving an 18-year sentence for aggravated rape, and Christopher Osteen, who was serving an 8-year sentence for burglary, escaped on Friday from the minimum security Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, about 2 hours northeast of Memphis and less than 15 minutes from the Kentucky border, officials said.
Brown, 36, and Osteen, 34, were discovered missing from the prison about 8:30 a.m. following an emergency prisoner count, officials said.
About 45 minutes after the prisoners were reported missing, the pair allegedly kidnapped a Fulton County, Kentucky, highway department worker from a boat ramp on the Mississippi River and forced the worker to go with them, according to a statement posted on Facebook by the Henry County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee.
The Kentucky highway employee was found safe just before 2 p.m. on Friday in his work truck off a highway in Henry County, “where he was left by the escapees,” according to the sheriff’s office.
“From statements made by the victim, who was blindfolded, it was believed that another vehicle had been taken by the escapees at an unknown location,” the sheriff’s office statement reads.
About 2:38 a.m. on Saturday, a Henry County resident was found tied up in his house, sheriff’s officials said. The victim told police that after entering his home and tying him up around 10:30 a.m. on Friday, the fugitives allegedly stole his red 2009 Chevrolet Silverado extended cab truck, officials said.
The stolen truck remained missing on Sunday, authorities said.
The pair are currently being held by the Broward County Florida Sheriff’s Office. Additional charges against the men have not been announced.
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