what a great story: • escaped convict, 5 state chase, ..prisoner wants to see mother, who is dying of cancer
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/26/escapee.mom.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories Escapee pursued through country-song odyssey
• It's thought prisoner wants to see mother, who is dying of cancer
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- It has all the makings of a country song: an escaped prisoner, his terminally ill mother, a Wal-Mart truck, NASCAR and a Nashville singer's tour bus.
Since Christopher Daniel Gay, 32, escaped from a prisoner transport van Sunday in South Carolina, police say, he has evaded a five-state manhunt by stealing a pickup, a big rig and a bus that belongs to singer Crystal Gayle.
No one has been reported injured, and the search for him continued Friday.
Initially, police say, his motive for fleeing was simple. "I take it he was just trying to see his mom," said Michael Douglas, the police chief in Pleasant View, Tennessee, near the home where Gay's mother is dying of cancer.
Gay, who has a history of theft involving trucks and other heavy equipment, escaped during a bathroom break in Hardeeville, South Carolina, as he was being taken from Texas to face felony theft charges in Alabama. The van was taking a route allowing it to pick up prisoners in other states.
He stole a pickup truck in South Carolina and made his way more than 300 miles northwest to Manchester, Tennessee, where he stole a Wal-Mart tractor-trailer filled with $300,000 worth of merchandise, police said.
................ condt:
If he comes my way I'm helpng him out. Seriously!