Authorities search for ‘very dangerous’ suspect after escape from Pa. jail

Homicide suspect Michael Charles Burham, 34, was the subject of a manhunt Saturday after escaping from a jail in northwestern Pennsylvania. Photo provided by Jamestown, Pa., Police Department/Facebook

July 8 (UPI) — Federal, state and local authorities are searching Saturday for a “very dangerous” homicide suspect who escaped from a jail in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Michael Charles Burham, 34, was found missing from his cell at the Warren County Jail in Warren, Pa., early Friday while being held on arson and burglary charges, the Jamestown, Pa., Police Department said in a release.

Burham is a suspect in a homicide investigation in Jamestown and is also “associated with the prior carjacking and kidnapping of a local couple while trying to escape capture,” police said.

“He is considered very dangerous, and the public is asked to be vigilant and report anything out of the ordinary,” authorities urged.

Burham led police on a manhunt that took them to South Carolina earlier this year before he was eventually captured May 24.

The FBI said Burham was on the run after a spree of alleged crimes in New York and Pennsylvania, including rape and unlawful imprisonment.

He was also wanted for kidnapping an elderly couple in Pennsylvania, where he allegedly abducted the couple from their home, drove them to North Charleston, S.C., and released them unharmed.

“The search for Michael Burham continues Saturday morning,” Chautauqua County, N.Y., spokesman Justin Gould said in a statement to media outlets.

“Throughout the day Friday and overnight, local, state and federal law enforcement followed up on several leads reporting possible sightings, including a police standoff on Water Street in Warren, Pa., however it appears to be an unfounded tip.

“Our brave police investigators will continue to search for Burham in both New York and Pennsylvania until the suspect can be brought to justice,” he said.

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