The escapes of two inmates — one a murderer, one a kidnapper — had authorities in Ohio and North Carolina scrambling Monday to capture the fugitives, corrections officials in both states said.
The convicted murderer, John Modie, 58, escaped from his cell at the Hocking Unit of the Southeastern Correctional Complex in Nelsonville, Ohio. He was missing when guards conducted the prisoner count at 11 p.m. Sunday, officials said.
Modie’s escape prompted nearby Hocking College to close its campus Monday and issue a warning to students instructing them to go only to the dining hall. Security will be present between the dining and residence halls, the school said.
“Hawks Nest Dining will be open until 2 p.m. today. Students are allowed to go only to Hawks Nest Dining and back to residence halls and should get enough food to get through tonight,” a statement on the college’s website read.
Modie is serving 18 years to life for murder, robbery and escape. According to CNN affiliate WCMH-TV in Columbus, Modie is serving time for the 2003 murder of Ucianna Ortiz, 26. He killed her at his home in Cleveland before dumping her body off Interstate 90, and he was arrested days later in Texas driving a BMW stolen from Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the station reported.
Police told WCMH that Modie has familial ties to Washington County, Ohio. Investigators believe he may have sought shelter during the overnight storms in the Nelsonville area.
“We are working with the local law enforcement agencies and the Ohio State Highway Patrol,” the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said in a statement.
Modie was incarcerated at the Hocking Unit, which houses about 450 older inmates in Nelsonville, roughly 30 miles southeast of the main prison compound in Lancaster.
He is 6 feet 4 inches and weighs about 230 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue hoodie, gray sweatshirt and blue pants. The corrections department advised residents that Modie is considered dangerous.
Also Sunday, in a separate case, Kelvin Singleton escaped from the Chowan County Detention Facility in Edenton, North Carolina, at about 4 p.m. by fashioning “a weapon-like tool from his toothbrush” and forcing a corrections officer to release him, Chowan County Sheriff Dwayne Goodwin. The officer was unharmed.
Singleton was imprisoned on robbery and second-degree kidnapping convictions in January. He also faces assault charges in Charlotte, police said.
“Singleton was last sighted near the jail around the intersection of Gale and Oakum Streets. K9 units were deployed to search for him and continue combing the area, including woods and abandoned houses,” Goodwin said in a statement Sunday.
The 26-year-old inmate is 6 feet and has a medium build. He has a cross tattooed on his forehead, authorities said.
Anyone who sees a man matching Singleton’s description should exercise caution and contact police, sheriff’s officials said.