For these perpetrators, their stories may be different, but their motives are always the same: to stay out of prison. The people profiled in this series evaded justice for years, sometimes decades, by using their families, fake identification and even violence to avoid capture. Learn what pushed these individuals to their crimes, how they stayed one step ahead of the police and managed to evade the law -- at least for a while.
Mark and Maverick Maher are teenage punks who form their own militia -- a band of youths who rob houses and break into cars. After sending a threatening audio tape to police, they go on the run, living in the Florida swamps and eventually leading police on a lengthy chase through an upscale neighborhood.
Two men become fugitives from the law. First, Howard murders a man and flees to New York, where he plots a daring escape. Then, Brendan breaks out of jail by overpowering a guard. When his mother is arrested for helping him, the chase is on.
Jeremy Woods is a con-artist with a love for violence. He convinces his girlfriend to forge bad checks and murders her and her son so he can walk away a free man. He flees to New Orleans but is arrested on unrelated charges and confesses to the murder.
Two stories of fugitives on the run. First, a scam artist cons aspiring artists out of millions. But when one victim demands justice, a high-profile manhunt ensues. Then, a modern day Bonnie and Clyde eludes police until a slip-up leads to their doorstep.
William Alderman robs to support his girlfriend and her 3-year-old daughter. The trio heads to Idaho, breaking into vacation homes and using the little girl to help carry out the crimes. During a botched robbery, a man is killed and the family runs but gets caught during a takedown at a roadside motel.
After leading police on a high speed chase, criminal Toby Young is caught, but not for long. He forces his way out of jail and after escaping to Mexico through drug tunnels, he learns the true cost of being on the run.
Nicholas Johnson is a teenage robber terrorizing the streets of Portland, Oregon. After getting caught, he plans an elaborate escape and slips past the prison’s high-level security system. With the help of his family, Johnson stays hidden from the law until a tip leads police right to his whereabouts.
With seven escapes under his belt, Frankie Lee Bass will stop at nothing to be free. While facing five life sentences for a spree of Florida robberies, Bass makes a daring escape and goes on the run. How long will he be able to stay out?
A neighbor calls 911 when she smells smoke coming from an apartment shared by Ricky Sleight and William Baldi. The police find Baldi's dead body, but Sleight escapes by riding freight trains across the country. The FBI turns to the media for help.
Kenneth "Speedy" Raulerson is wanted in Florida for armed robbery. He flees to Alaska to work the crab boats. After six months, he returns to the backwoods of Florida. Raulerson knows he will eventually be caught and is prepared to go down fighting.
After serving nearly a decade for a slew of drug, robbery and assault charges, McCollum is determined to turn his life around. He builds a reputation as a successful car salesman until a freak accident threatens to send him back to the pen.
Love is blind, and some people are so in love they'll even turn a blind eye to justice. Three true stories of fugitives who find romance while under constant and intense pressure to evade police.
By the age of 17, William Van Poyck is convicted of robbery and serves 6 years behind bars before escaping from a maximum security prison. In 1987, he prepares for his most daring crime yet; ambushing a prison transport van.
Courtenay Savage is an ex-cop with a loaded gun aimed at a friend's trailer. She has no idea she is caught on tape. After an arrest and posting bail, she goes on the run, leaving ties to the police department and the sex industry.
After killing his step-mom and three young brothers, James Wiley is given a life sentence. He escapes into the Wyoming wilderness and hides under the wheel of a big rig, holding on for dear life as the truck heads down the highway. He calls a friend for help at a rest area but gets caught and sent back to prison.
In July of 2009, Valerie Castellano robs a bank in rural Indiana. She flees with her three children and her girlfriend to Mexico. Back in Indiana, police focus their attention on Valerie's mother, hoping she will be the key to her daughter's capture.
In central Florida in 1991, Marvin Carson settled an argument with rival gang member Richard Hawk by shooting him repeatedly with an AK47. Carson then went on the run. But when he returned to his home town, police were tipped.
Walter Rhodes and 2 other suspects were involved with the murder of 2 cops. Rhodes agrees to testify against the others for a lesser sentence and is released in 18 years. Shortly after, he violates his parole - but refuses to ever go back to prison.
The main suspect in the murder of a pregnant ex-girlfriend, and wanted for the shooting of a current one, Michael Alfonso is a jealous boyfriend who time and again turns to violence. It is Alfonso's criminal lifestyle that gets him caught.
Scott Freeburg has been in and out of prison his whole life. So when a drug deal goes wrong, Scott Freeburg runs to Canada.But soon Scott is back in the gang life. And the Canadian police quickly ID him by his tattoos and extradite him back to the U.S.
When Edward Roberson and two fellow inmates went to the showers, they didn't come back. Breaking out, the three scale the fences and run for it. Roberson has escaped and now has stolen guns, in a stolen car running for his life.
JohnnyRay Gasca, a successful video pirate, scams the film industry while partying with celebrities and hiding from the law. Gasca went to prison for attempted murder and U.S. Marshals believe Gasca's illicit lifestyle will soon turn violent.
After killing his mother, Scott Webb and his wife go on the run. They head to Texas and fool a small-town church into taking pity on them. But when their story hits the local news, church members call police, who track the couple down in Seattle.
Serving life for a double homicide, Harold Laird breaks out of prison. On the lam, he evades the law in a series of near misses from Texas to New Orleans. Exhausted, Laird passes out in a stolen truck. When a cop notices, he runs the plates, discovers it's stolen, and calls for backup and arrests Laird.
Kerry Silvers was facing 55 years in the slammer for robbery and battery, so he decided to escape. Along with two other prisoners they overpowered a few guards and were able to calmly walk out of prison.