By KRWG News
Phoenix, AZ – Officials say that an escaped state prison inmate and his fiancee who were targets of a nationwide manhunt have been captured at an Arizona campground after an alert forest ranger spotted their stolen vehicle hidden in the trees.
John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch, who also is the inmate's cousin, were taken into custody about 7 p.m. Thursday at a campsite at the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in northeastern Arizona. Officials say Welch at first wielded a gun when confronted, but dropped it when she saw she was outgunned by a SWAT team.
McCluskey was in a nearby sleeping bag and taken into custody without incident.
Said David Gonzales, U.S. marshal for Arizona: "The nightmare that started July 30th is finally over."
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.