XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: sac.politics, nc.general   
   From: democrats@caused.it   
      
   The hunt for an escaped inmate serving a life sentence for murder moved to a   
   longer-term phase Wednesday as law enforcement spent a second day searching   
   for clues.   
      
   The 33-hour ground search for escapee Ramone Alston involved 335 officers from   
   19 agencies and covered at least 1,335 acres, said Kirby Saunders, director of   
   Orange County Emergency Services.   
      
   As the initial search wrapped up Wednesday, the N.C. Department of Adult   
   Correction was poised to take the lead in the investigation. The Orange County   
   Sheriff’s Office will continue to serve as a command center, Sheriff Charles   
   Blackwood said.   
      
   The department has received two “rock-solid” leads, and a $35,000 reward   
   for Alston’s capture has spawned a significant and steady number of calls to   
   the tip line, Blackwood said. He is confident that Alston is not within five   
   miles of the hospital,   
    he said, while urging residents and businesses again to check their doorbell   
   and surveillance cameras for any glimpses of the 30-year-old man.   
      
   “I’ve known Ramone since he was born,” said Blackwood, who went to   
   school with Alston’s father. “He was a troubled child, and he has been   
   involved in criminal activity since he was a juvenile. He is extremely cagey,   
   and he is extremely    
   dangerous.”   
      
   How did Ramone Alston escape?   
   Alston has been on the run since 7 a.m. Tuesday, after he removed his leg   
   restraints during a prison-van ride to UNC Hospitals from Bertie Correctional   
   Institution. He was being moved from the van to the hospital for a medical   
   appointment when he knocked    
   an N.C. Department of Adult Correction guard to the ground and ran into the   
   woods, officials said.   
      
   Alston’s hands were still bound by handcuffs connected to a belly chain. The   
   officers tried to catch him, but he ran away, Blackwood said. Alston has since   
   been charged with felony escape and will be moved to a higher level of   
   security when he is    
   caught.   
      
   Law enforcement spent the last two days knocking on doors to talk with   
   residents near the hospital and combing through often steep terrain with dogs   
   to pick up Alston’s trail. The dogs indicated Alston might be headed north   
   before losing his trail,    
   Blackwood said.   
      
   Officers from several agencies returned to different areas Wednesday to look   
   again for clues. One team from multiple jurisdictions entered the woods   
   several times behind Home Depot, working with a search dog and officers from   
   the state’s Prison    
   Emergency Response Team to scout the area along the railroad tracks that run   
   through Hillsborough and surrounding woods.   
      
   Those officers and others were looking “for any signs that Mr. Alston may   
   have been there — any footprints, any discarded remains, handcuffs, attire   
   — anything we can find that can confirm a direction of travel and how he has   
   evaded capture,”    
   Saunders said.   
      
   In addition, an “exhaustive investigative search is happening in the rest of   
   the world outside of that immediate vicinity,” he said.   
      
   $35,000 reward; Durham Tech still locked down   
   The state Department of Correction is offering a $25,000 reward for   
   information leading to Alston’s capture. On Wednesday, the U.S. Marshals   
   added $10,000 to the reward.   
      
   “Somebody knows out there that this was planned, and they know who was   
   involved in it, and we hope that this motivates them to do the right thing and   
   let us know so that we can bring this to a successful conclusion and a just   
   conclusion,” Blackwood    
   said.   
      
   On Wednesday afternoon, he warned anyone helping Alston that they could face a   
   felony charge of aiding and abetting an escaped inmate.   
      
   “If we can prove that you’re involved in this, you’re going to be   
   charged. We just want everybody to think about that while that $35,000 is   
   hanging out there,” Blackwood said.   
      
   The escape briefly put the UNC Hospitals campus in Hillsborough on lockdown   
   Tuesday. A lockdown at Durham Tech’s Orange County campus, which is across   
   the street, remained in place.   
      
   The community college was on “yellow status” Wednesday, with virtual   
   classes and only essential personnel coming to campus. The college, which has   
   served as a command center for law enforcement during the search, is expected   
   to return to normal    
   operations.   
      
      
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