A convicted murderer who escaped from a northeast Ohio prison with another inmate by hiding in a dumpster was found dead Sunday after his body was seen floating in the Ohio River, authorities said.
The find ended the manhunt for missing inmate Bradley Gillespie, 50. Kentucky police said the other inmate, James Lee, 47, was captured last Wednesday after the two escaped earlier this week from the Allen/Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio.
Also, Henderson Police Chief Sean McKinney told a news conference that officials received a call Sunday about a body floating in the river very close to where Gillespie was last seen when his officers captured Lee. in a chase and a traffic stop in a stolen vehicle.
Gillespie, who was in one of the passenger seats, fled on foot, prompting a search that lasted several days, he said.
“A preliminary investigation indicates that we recovered the body of Bradley Gillespie from the river,” McKinney said, adding that police, fire, the coroner’s office and others responded when a tip of a body in the river came through. Reports suggested that tattoos and physical inspection helped with preliminary identification, CBS News reported.
Lee was serving a sentence imposed in 2021 for theft and breaking into safes. McKinney said Gillispie had been behind bars since 2016 and was convicted of a double murder.
For its part, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said detectives determined the offenders left the prison “after hiding in a dumpster.”
The two subjects were reported missing Tuesday from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Lee was reported missing during the prisoner count at 11:00 a.m., so the prisoner count was repeated, revealing that Gillespie was not in jail.
Authorities later determined that the two men were last seen on security camera video inside the facility shortly after 8:40 a.m. Monday.
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