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Escaped murder defendant likely left town, cops say: Oscar Alvarado just walked out of Curran-Fromhold

Law-enforcement authorities searching for Oscar Alvarado, the alleged murderer who sneaked out of a city prison on Thanksgiving, say that he may have fled the city.

Law-enforcement authorities searching for Oscar Alvarado, the alleged murderer who sneaked out of a city prison on Thanksgiving, say that he may have fled the city.

"We've been all over the place looking for him," Police Capt. John McGinnis, of the Northeast Detective Division, said yesterday. "We believe he's out of the Philadelphia area."

McGinnis would not comment on where outside the city authorities have been searching.

Alvarado, 27, of Philip Street near Ontario, in North Philadelphia, is accused of fatally shooting a woman last year. He had been housed in the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, on State Road in Northeast Philly.

Sometime between 3 and 6 p.m. Thursday, he apparently slipped out of the facility, Philadelphia Prison Commissioner Louis Giorla said Friday.

Giorla said that Alvarado had obtained an unauthorized pass to go to the visiting area of the prison, a large, open room with chairs, where inmates can chat with visitors.

He said that Alvarado did not have anyone sign in at the prison to visit him on Thanksgiving and that prison officials were trying to determine how he had gotten the pass.

Alvarado was last seen in the visiting area wearing civilian clothes - black trousers and a white or tan T-shirt, Giorla said.

Prison spokesman Bob Eskind said yesterday that officials believe that Alvarado had been wearing the trousers and T-shirt underneath his two-piece, blue prison uniform before he left his cell to go to the visiting area.

The prison had first noticed Alvarado missing during its 6 p.m. count Thursday.

It notified Northeast Detectives of the escape about 9:30 p.m., McGinnis said.

Asked about the lag time, Eskind said that prison officials had to first search the prison and grounds, and to confirm who was missing among the 2,800 inmates before notifying police.

Alvarado is accused of fatally shooting Marta Martinez-Lozada, 37, about 4:20 p.m. Oct. 21, 2008, in the Fairhill section of North Philadelphia.

His cousin Cynthia Alvarado, 28, is also charged with murder and related offenses in that case.

The two apparently had an incestuous relationship, according to information provided to authorities. When asked after the shooting how he was related to Cynthia Alvarado, Oscar Alvarado told police in his statement: "That's my cousin and my lover."

Assistant District Attorney Beth McCaffery said yesterday that, according to evidence in the case, the Alvarados drove to Fairhill Square park, on Lawrence Street near Lehigh Avenue, on the day of the shooting to buy Xanax pills. Cynthia's friend and Cynthia's 1-year-old child were in the back of the car.

Cynthia urged Oscar to get a deal on the drugs and, if not, to rob the dealer at gunpoint, McCaffery said. Oscar Alvarado allegedly did just that.

As Alvarado was returning to the car, driven by Cynthia, word apparently spread in the park that he had robbed the dealer. About 15 to 20 people then followed Alvarado to the car. That's when Alvarado fired his gun three times into the pursuing crowd, hitting Martinez-Lozada in the chest, authorities allege.

Cynthia Alvarado was reportedly unfazed by the shooting, telling her friend in the back seat, according to evidence in the case: "This is why he f---- me. Because I'm a ride-or-die bitch."