KANSAS CITY, Kan. – It took three weeks, but a convicted sex offender and prison escapee was caught in Kansas City, Kansas. Fugitive Gary Furthmyer was serving time for taking indecent liberties with a child in 1985. A tip led police to the area near 6th and Nebraska in downtown Kansas City, Kan.
Lansing prison officials say they got more than a dozen tips from people saying they spotted Gary Furthmyer. One led directly to his capture in the 600 block of Nebraska this afternoon. Furthmyer was serving time for a 1985 conviction of Indecent Liberties with a Child, and Aggravated Failure to Appear.
He escaped while he was on minimum security work duty at the prison’s steam plant. People who live near the area where Furthmyer was captured say they feel uneasy knowing this man they saw on the news for weeks could have been lurking near their homes.
“It’s very scary, because that’s one of my biggest fears, like kidnapping, being raped. I tell my mom all the time. It scares me to death to think about that,” 16 year-old Nikia Hope said.
Furthmyer was reportedly spotted in downtown Kansas City, Missouri last week. Police said he may have been seen at a homeless shelter there. Furthmyer is 59- years-old, and he’ll be back in the Lansing Correctional Facility by tonight. There’s no word on what charges he’ll face now that he’s been re-captured.
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