The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1952-04-11
HUNT
CONTINUED from Page One)

talked a moment with Patrolman
Andrews who was checking traffic
coming from Manteo. The prison
ers had not been recaptured, he
said.
We drove on in to Manteo and
checked with the Currituck prison
superintendent, B. v. Evans, who
had managed to get his truck stuck
in the sand, just before our arrival.
The escaped prisoners had been
taken to a truck shed in Manteo,
he said, on account of sudden
rain. Guards and foremen had been
sitting in trucks right in front of
the shed all the time. After lunch,
the shower having passed away,
the guards called the prisoners
out and three were missing. A
check revealed that their only point
of exit was through the front door.
Dogs were rushed in but had been
unable to track them up to the
time of our arrival.
We drove up and down and a.
round and finally came upon their
foot prints on the far side of the
Lost Colony grounds. They had
ripped off part of the park fence
and apparently entered.
Bob handed me a short barreled
pistol, fully loaded noticed, and
advised me that these men were
not like the young fellows back in
Gates County. They were long
term hardened criminals and meant
business. stuck the gun in my
pocket feeling a little foolish and
more than a little wishing / was
back in Gates County where the
criminals are not so bad.
Hickey, the trainer and handler
of Mabel, took off with Evans and
another lad from the Gainesville
camp. This latter lad carried
walkie-talkie, while. Bob carried
another one. Hickey was hanging
on to Mabel's harness as they dis
appeared into the woods. / elected
to stay by the car.
In a few minutes, Patrolman
Hawkins, stationed on the island,
came up and seemed quite angry
that he would be unable to fill a
date that night unless the escaped
men were recaptured. Pretty soon
Bob returned from the shore where
he had gone looking for tracks,
and we started patroling all the
roads around. Each quarter hour,
he would call the boys on the walk
ie-talkie but each time, they had
found nothing and Mabel seemed
to lose interest. After a while we
called the hunt off and went to
Manteo and ate supper. That part
enjoyed.
We came back after eating and
Evans had found a trail made by
the men which they struck at the
airport and had followed to the
main highway about a mile from
Manteo. There they lost it. Be-
lieving the men may have picked
up a ride, Bob radioed the patrol
on the bridge to be on the alert
and we headed that way just in
case they might get to the beach
and attempt to get another ride.
We drove all the way back to the
Currituck bridge where Patrolman
Andrews had been replaced by Sgt.
Logan B. Lane and Cpl. Ernest
Guthrie. No escaped man had pass
ed that way, they said. We sat
around and listened to them as
they griped about their long hours
and again we headed for Manteo.
Bob advised the officers to go on
home as none of the many men
who had escaped in Manteo had
ever attempted to cross the bridge.
This time we loaded up with gas
and headed for home as the time
was late, nearly midnight.
Just outside of Manteo, we dis
covered our car generator was on
the blink which severed radio con-
nections and looked as though it
might mean we would spend some
time beside the road or walking,
something at which l am not so
good, being rather low geared.
We failed to find any place of
business open from Manteo to
Gates County, but did good until
we reached Sunbury when our
lights wen completely out and the
car began to buck like RABBIT.
grabbed a flashlight and held
it out the window until my arm
and hand froze, but we made it
right up in front of prison camp
108. My own car, when / got in it,
seemed to have the brightest lights
in the world after looking for so
long at those two on Bob's car that
reflected about as much light as a
good big cheese.
The three escaped men stole two
trucks in Manteo that night and
made good their escape across the