Escaped convict captured in Chester County after three-month manhunt
It’s unclear why Mario Che-Tiul traveled more than 1,100 miles to Chester County, or how long officials suspected he was in the area.
An escaped convict from Missouri was captured in Chester County Thursday, ending a three-month manhunt following a June prison escape.
Mario Che-Tiul, 34, was apprehended by members of a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force at an apartment on Gap Newport Pike in Avondale, Pa., officials announced. It’s unclear why Che-Tiul traveled more than 1,100 miles to Chester County, or how long officials suspected he was in the area.
Officials said members of the Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force in Philadelphia received information that Che-Tiul might be in an Avondale apartment on Thursday, and surrounded the building around 1:30 p.m. Che-Tiul was identified and taken into custody without incident, and was transported to the Chester County Prison and charged as a “fugitive of justice.”
Che-Tiul was the last of seven inmates to be captured following their June 1 escape from the Barry County Jail in Cassville, Mo., about three hours south of Kansas City. Three inmates were captured 15 minutes after the escape, and three others were taken into custody the following morning, according to Barry County Sheriff Danny Boyd.
“This latest capture of an escaped prisoner from Missouri should underscore a very clear message, and one that applies globally: Our efforts never cease. Ever,” Eric Gartner, U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said in a statement.
At the time of his arrest, Che-Tiul was being held on child sex-assault charges.
Che-Tiul’s capture comes a week after the Pennsylvania State Police captured Danilo Cavalcante, a convicted murder who broke out of the Chester County Prison on Aug. 31. Cavalcante evaded police for two weeks before being caught in northern Chester County on Sept. 13.