Escaped Phelps County inmate captured
ROLLA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Jonathan O'Dell was found Sunday after escaping Phelps County Jail.
He was taken into custody without incident in Ray County at approximately 5 p.m. Sunday by the FBI, per the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Ray County Sheriff's Office.
Just after 11 p.m. Friday, two inmates escaped the Phelps County Jail by "comprising the structural integrity of the cell and exiting the building," according to a news release from the Phelps County Sheriff. The inmates are Steven Timothy Scott, who turned himself in, and Jonathan Eugene Schmidt O'Dell. The FBI and the Phelps County Sheriff are searching for O'Dell.
O'Dell is known to associate with people in several central Missouri locations, according to the FBI, especially in Warsaw, Columbia and Springfield.
O'Dell was being held for weapons charges. A federal indictment said O'Dell allegedly planned to go to Texas and shoot migrants crossing the United State's southern border. O'Dell allegedly planned to murder any officers or Border Patrol agents who tried to stop him.
Rolla is a town with roughly 20,000, home of the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Many students were aware of the runaway fugitive.
"Yeah, I got the notification about that. I got a text from the family members to watch out. We didn't really go outside much yesterday, so we've been kind of avoiding that," said Akaycia Mather.
"My parents texted me early this morning to make sure I was okay," Mather's friend Keaton Painter added.
According to the Neighborhood Scout, the possibility of a person becoming a victim of a crime such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape, or murder is 1 in 219, which equals a rate of 5 per 1,000 residents.
The most common crime that takes place in Rolla is property crime. The probability of becoming a victim of property crime is 1 in 27, which is equated to a rate of 38 per 1,000 residents, according to Neighborhood Scout.
Phelps County released new images of fugitive O'Dell Sunday morning. The first image authorities released was O'Dell with a beard. The second image was O'Dell without a beard via Twitter. Rolla residents were in disbelief it was the same person.
