No sightings of inmates

| 19/08/2013

(CNS): The lead investigator heading up the search for three escaped prisoners said Monday that, although the police have followed up many leads in the case, there have still been no confirmed sightings of the men anywhere. Caymanian prisoners Steven Manderson and his son, Marcus Manderson, and Jamaican national Dale Chadwick broke out of HMP Northward Wednesday evening and have managed to evade the authorities for five days. Speaking to the media atlunchtime Monday, Detective Chief Inspector Malcolm Kay said that the police still believe the men are on island but are concerned that they may be trying to leave, and he once again warned boat owners to secure their vessels and report any thefts immediately to the police.

“We have conducted a number of searches,” he said. “These are not random searches; they are based on information coming into us from the public at the incident room and 911 with possible sightings."

The information police has indicates that the men are still on island and searches will continue, Kay said. Each and every possible sighting is followed up and taken seriously, he stressed, and he encouraged people to keep calling in. So far, however, none of the sightings could be confirmed as being any of the escapees.

The lead investigating officer said that although all three men were convicted of serious, violent crimes, there is no reason to believe that they pose a particular threat to the wider community or general public. Nevertheless, Kay asked people who believe they have spotted the escapees not to approach them but to call 911 immediately. He also asked people to report any suspicious activity at all to the incident room on 925-7240 or any police station.

Steve Manderson is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of a prison guard, while his son Marcus was recently sentenced to a mandatory ten years in jail. He was convicted of possession of a firearm when a jury found that a modified flare gun was capable of firing lethal bullets. Chadwick was also recently convicted of robbery and was given a six year sentence as a result of the violent attack on his victim.

Since the escape, some 30 officers from across the RCIPS, including CID, Uniform Support Group, the K9 Unit, air support and the marine units have all been assigned to the case and they are continuing with physical searches and intelligence led operations. Trailers and abandoned buildings across Grand Cayman have been checked and teams are continuing to follow up on tips coming into the incident room while conducting targeted area searches.

Although police believe that the men are still here, the marine unit is paying particular attention to coastal activity as the police are well aware that the escapees may be trying to leave the island.

Kay said the police were keeping an open mind about whether the escaped prisoners were sleeping rough or were being hidden, but he urged people to keep an eye on all outbuildings on their property as well as their boats and marine related equipment, such as outboard motors fuel tanks,  flare guns or life vests. He said the possibility that the prisoners were looking for a boat to steal was very real as he appealed to owners to secure their vessels.

In the immediate wake of the escape, sniffer dogs were used to follow the trail of the three prisoners for a time but that trail was lost, Kay said. This was either as a result of the rainy weather or because the men were picked up in a vehicle.

The senior officer added that the RCIPS has not ruled out the possibility that the three men were, and continued to be, assisted by someone outside of the prison but all friends family and known associates of the three men have been questioned with varying degrees of cooperation.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Category: Crime

About the Author ()

Comments (22)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Anonymous says:

    Que the Benny Hill music!!…………..

  2. David Shibli says:

    I would ask for calm. I am sure David Baines will make a statement soon.

  3. Boogie De Chump says:

    What a national disgrace now you will hear its the public fault. When they do find them you will hear we had intelligence all along it was our strategy. The RCIPS is not joke it is simply a figment of our imagination now! No sightings even if that is true please give the public a sense of some level of public safety and the other genius telling us we are there you can't see us  He must think he is a magician or we are just plain stupid? Speaks volumes about the level of leadership we have and for those who think this situation is not being milked for everyone cent by those foreign officers running around. wait till the "sherrif" gets the bill from the RCIPS.  The surplus will disappear and more supplementary burrowing to pay overtime.

  4. island says:

     

    one day a burglar broke into my house I chased him out of the house, he escaped ,I called the police but I was driving around looking for him  I used the DOGS around the neighbourhood to figure out where he was and while I was driving I heard a angry dog barking towards the bush and as soon as I knew it he jumped out and ran in the other direction.

     

    I have bin hearing a lot of dog barking randomly around the BT school area  but it is usually quite there but these random barking are making me and my family uncomfortable if these criminals are smart they would move in the night and only DOGs around the community might help.  RCIP when you are looking for these people just take a listen around you they are already listening out for you guys Remember They Know Your Coming For Them! Just think like a criminal what would you have done if you where escaping? Should start from the exit area and take a walk thru the bush maybe in the direction you think they might have went. I don’t think they would split up. Remember this was planned.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Manderson is an expert in disappearing for long periods, don't forget when he was out last time it was 3 months before he was caught in Northside at a family members house.

    manderson will lay low and probably only travel at night if he travels at all, his family including his mother will not open their mouths, he will use disposable cel phones with call forwarding so you can't follow the signal (what he did last time).

    Believe it or not it wis not easy to catch this man when family keep him hidden, ask the retired cops who looked for him the last five times he was on a his walk about.

    Manderson is going to look for his family or vise versa, all you can do is follow them, which is not easy. In cayman.

    i do agree this is rediculous the CCTV cameras and prison officers should be held accountable but don't blame Eric or Franz as they weren't  there, all they can do is provide the equipment as they cant personally can't sit and watch the cameras all day.

    the new boss of prisons should and I am sure investigating how this happened.

    finally I am not really concerned about manderson, it's the jamacians who seems to be the most aggressive and would do anything to get off the island. Watch out for him…

  6. Anonymous says:

    hey ,  maybe they are back !!!!!!!!!

    did anyone check their cells ????

    i mean…free food, free cothing , free medical,  NO cuc bill, no water bills, no insurance payments ,etc etc  

  7. Anonymous says:

    When you are a murder and escape 2 times let alone 5 you are not normally allowed to run free no matter how good of a boy you are. This is eating away resources that are needed to patrol these Islands from the criminals that are not serving time. To make a statement such as the one that the RCIP has made in regards to them not specifically being a threat to the greater community s idiotic. You have a murderer and hos son who is charged with firearms offenses and a cold jearted wanna be killer?

  8. SSM345 says:

    07:55, two words, Human Rights.

  9. Anonymous says:

    I hope the woman injuried by Dale Chadwick is protected.

  10. Hoping for better days says:

    I agree. But do we even have solitary confinement in Cayman??? It would seem not….

    I am guessing (and I think its a pretty good guess), that these 3 are either long gone or (more likely) shacked up enjoying the spoils of escaping, ie smoking drinking etc….SOMEONE knows where they are right now and they are keeping it a secret….this is the kind of society we live in. This is Cayman.

  11. Anonymous says:

    HMP security is a big joke.  The RCIP is helples.  Give me a break, this is all BS.  Manderson got out 5 other times, then why is he not in solitary confinement?

  12. Anonymous says:

    “Run Forrest, run!”

    • Anonymous says:

      Heres the thing the Police will use things like this to justify getting even more police officers. Meanwhile the CS is supposed to be downsizing to cut costs for the country.

      PS has anyone seen Mandersons vacation application form. 

  13. Anonymous says:

    The RCIP & HMP staff cannot even keep nor much less find prisoners! A great start HMP director & Mr. Baines!

    • Anonymous says:

      23.59…easy to criticise, please explain exactly what you are doing to help the effort as a concerned citizen?

      • Weapons Grade Bollocks says:

        No doubt paying his/her taxes like the rest of us.

        We have a vast civil service that costs us $600,000,000 per year. Why doesn't it work?

  14. Anonymous says:

    Please pare me. The RCIP could not give creditable testimony for a crime even if they witnessed it. Sniffer dogs followed them but lost them due to rain. Then we will hear the helicopter flying around but could not seeanything due to bush. This is a joke. Manderson has escaped at least five prior times to this. He no matter how long it has been should not be unsupervised with a bannana let alone his thug son and another man who has a propensity for violence. We jave expenses related to that prison in regards to CVTv that is eitger not being monitored or are not functioning. Eric Buah and Bostock need to answer this if the Cctv was installed in this area. There are fences. We need more money bS is just that BS. I know they would like a 80 ft wall around it that is 30 foot thick of cement but ypu still need eues on these people. The fences are not chicken wire.they take sometime to breach. Spare us the company line and start dping the job ypu are paid. Stop sleeping while on duty. Stop the nonsense snd acknowledge that while the situation is not an ideal prison but is not desperate and acknowledge that you are not going to catch these guys with a side show and three ring circus

    • Anonymous says:

      Hind sight is always 20/20 – what if?  but this happened before, why not? bla bla bla the fact is, everyone is working to ensure they collect a salary – you think they really love their job or give two hoots?

    • Anonymous says:

      This is probably not the best way to get your job back.