Search for escapee Michael Burham continues as police investigate possible sightings
WARREN, Pa. ― The latest on the search for escaped inmate Michael C. Burham in northwestern Pennsylvania. Return for updates:
An image of Burham was caught on doorbell video as he walked past a residence south of the city of Warren at about 5 a.m. several days ago, a top Pennsylvania state police official said at the daily news conference on the Burham case on Friday. "We consider this to be a confirmed sighting," said Lt. Col. George Bivens, deputy commissioner of operations for the Pennsylvania State Police. He said Burham was "headed toward the woods." Police: Escapee Burham spotted near Warren several days ago in sighting caught on video
Police searching for Burham found a "hidden cache" of clothes and other materials in the woods near the city of Warren, and police believe it is connected to him, Bivens said on Thursday. "We are confident that this was his," Bivens said. He said on Friday that state police believe the cache was from Burham's flight from authorities in the Warren area in May. But Bivens said state police believe Burham might have been able to access the cache since he escaped from the Warren County Prison on July 6. Police: Cache of food, clothes found in woods near Warren belonged to escapee Burham
As the search for escaped inmate Michael C. Burham stretches into its seventh day Thursday, police are investigating reports that a drone may have been flying near the Warren County Prison just prior to Burham's escape on July 6. Bivens said on Thursday that police are still investigating leads on the drone. Possible drone flew near Warren jail prior to Michael Burham escape
Officials in Warren County said they have ordered changes at the county prison where Burham broke out on July 6 using a rope made of bedsheets. Warren County Prison staff under review in response to Burham's escape
The search for Burham is connected to crimes in Jamestown, New York. On the run: Timeline of survivalist Michael Burham's escape from the Warren County Prison
The search for escaped inmate Michael Burham in northwestern Pennsylvania has brought to mind for many the 2006 search for another escaped inmate, Ralph "Bucky" Phillips. Michael Burham manhunt summons comparisons to 'Bucky' Phillips in 2006
Earlier
The search for escaped inmate Michael C. Burham will stretch into its sixth day Wednesday, as state, federal and local police agencies continue to comb Warren County and areas of the nearby Allegheny National Forest for the homicide suspect and kidnapping defendant whom authorities described as a "self-taught survivalist with military training."
State police late Tuesday afternoon said troopers continue to follow up on leads to try to find the 34-year-old Burham, who escaped from the Warren County Prison in downtown Warren late Thursday night.
At a news conference Tuesday in Warren, Lt. Col. George Bivens, deputy commissioner of operations for the Pennsylvania State Police, said some of those leads included possible sightings Monday night and the breaking-in of unoccupied and unsecured structures or cabins in the national forest.
"It appears there may have been entry at some point in time in the past," Bivens said, referencing public and private cabins and structures associated with oil and gas wells in the forest.
"Some of these structures are not checked on very often and so the fact that we find one that it appears someone may have been in there, doesn't necessarily mean it was Burham," he added. "That's where we use additional steps to try and determine whether it may have been or not."
Bivens said none of the possible sightings of Burham have "panned out."
He added that police continue to find items connected to Burham that indicate he remains in the "general area," which he defined as northwestern Pennsylvania. Bivens declined to identify those items.
Bivens reiterated that Burham should be considered armed and dangerous, and that Burham has been able to get a hold of firearms before and is likely to do so while on the run.
Burham is accused of escaping by climbing on a pullup exercise machine in the prison recreation yard, getting on to a roof and then sliding off the prison roof with a rope made of bedsheets tied together, as the Erie Times-News has reported.
Burham is from Russell, near Warren, and is still believed to be in the area of Warren County, east of Erie County. State police said searchers are using police dogs, drones and helicopters.
How dangerous is Michael Burham?
Burham is wanted in connection with the May 11 fatal shooting of Kala Hodgkin, 34, of Jamestown, in Chautauqua County, New York, north of Warren. Though he has yet to be charged in that case, Burham is a "prime suspect" in the killing, the U.S. Marshals Service said. At the time of Hodgkin's death, Burham was wanted a charge that he had raped her, according to court records.
Burham fled the area after Hodgkin's death. He is accused of kidnapping an elderly couple in Sheffield, in Warren County, on May 20, and stealing their SUV, which he used to drive to South Carolina. He was captured there on May 24 after a multi-agency manhunt. The couple was found unharmed in a cemetery in South Carolina.
Burham was eventually returned to Warren. He was placed in the Warren County Prison on $1 million bond on June 19.
"Burham is a self-taught survivalist with military training and could potentially be holed up in a wooded area," state police said in a news release. "He is to be considered armed and dangerous and we are asking the public not to approach."
The U.S. Marshals Service, which is assisting the state police, said "Burham has an extensive and violent criminal history and should be considered armed and dangerous."
Where might Michael Burham be?
State police have indicated the search of Burham has stretched into the Allegheny National Forest. Stockpiles and small campsites believed to be connected to Burham have been in the area, police also said, without offering specifics.
"I don't want him to know what we have found or haven't found," Bivens said on Monday.
Burham was last known to be wearing a prison-issued denim jacket, an orange-striped jumpsuit and orange Croc-style shoes, "but it it possible for him to have changed clothing," state police said. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 160 pounds, has brown hair and brown eyes and has a tattoo of a tiger on his right arm.
Have any rewards been offered in the search for Michael Burham?
State police urge those with information on Burham to call the state police command post at 717-265-9650. The public can also call the state police barracks in Warren at 814-728-3600.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a reward of up to $7,500 for information that helps lead to Burham's capture. Warren County Crime Stoppers is offering another $2,000. Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers added an additional $10,000 for a total reward of $19,500, and Bivens said on Thursday that the Marshals Service had also added to the award, bringing the new total to $22,000.
According to the Marshals Service, other agencies involved in the manhunt for Burham include the city of Warren police, Warren County Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Border Patrol, Warren County sheriff, Chautauqua County sheriff, Jamestown Police, Bradford police and the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Staff writer Tim Hahn contributed to this report.
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.
A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: 'Survivalist' Michael Burham remains on run after prison escape
