After an intense search that included aircraft, boats, utility terrain vehicles and four canine units, an escaped prisoner was captured walking alongside the road this morning about 17.5 hours after he escaped.
Prison escapee Marcus Battice was captured Sept. 24 at 7:30 a.m.
Marcus Battice, 21, escaped from the Vandalia Correctional Center at about 2 p.m. Tuesday and was picked up alongside a gravel frontage road at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. Illinois State Police took Battice into custody without incident as he walked north on the road alongside Interstate 70. He was captured near mile marker 64, about 3.5 miles from the VCC, an Illinois Department of Corrections spokesperson said.
Battice has been positively identified and was examined at the correctional center’s health care unit. He will be transferred to the maximum security Pontiac Correctional Center, where he will be placed in segregation as an escapee, a spokesperson said.
The escape was determined to be impulsive and not planned, the spokesperson said. Battice escaped while returning from the commissary, where he had bought one can of soda and a package of cookies. He did not take water with him or clothing for cold overnight temperatures, the spokesperson said.
While the Illinois Department of Corrections could not address all reports, the spokesperson said Battice did not escape through a gate or a hole in the fence.
