An Estill County escapee may have been captured in Knox County late Friday after a stolen getaway vehicle was discovered near his parent’s home just four miles outside of Barbourville, unconfirmed media reports say.
Daniel Patterson, 34, picked the lock on his handcuffs on his way to a court hearing Wednesday in Irvine, according to state police. Patterson then stole a black 1991 Dodge Dakota with a red pinstripe and took off, they said.
Because Patterson is the estranged husband of an Eastern Kentucky University employee, EKU police issued a security alert for the campus on Thursday afternoon.
The fugitive was believed to be dangerous, according to the alert. Patterson’s wife told a television station that she has lived in fear of him since he tried to run over her in May with a pickup truck.
A truck matching the description of the one Patterson is believed to have stolen in Estill County was found abandoned Friday morning in front of a vacant home near Patterson’s family’s property in Knox County, said the county’s sheriff, John Pickard.
Deputies were dispatched to investigate the abandoned vehicle found around 9:30 a.m. Friday on Dizney Road in the Cannon community. They found the hood still warm, Pickard said. After running the tags on the truck, they discovered it had been stolen.
“We’re 99.9 percent sure it’s him, but nobody actually saw him,” the sheriff said.
Officials questioned Patterson’s family, who denied seeing him, but Pickard believes the suspect couldn’t have gone far.
“He (Patterson) might have had an advantage on us,” the sheriff said. “If he had been on his parent’s property, with the way it’s laid out, the moment he saw our deputies in the area he could’ve taken off into the woods.”
All-day rain showers in the area prohibited a manhunt using a tracking dog, Pickard said.
For now, the sheriff wants the public to notify his office if they hear anything concerning Patterson’s whereabouts. Although being from a small community may be helpful to a person in hiding, it also can be a disadvantage, Pickard said.
“A lot of people want him caught,” he said. “We know where to look; he’ll show up.”
Anybody with information on Patterson’s whereabouts may contact the Knox County Sheriff’s Department at 606-546-3181.
Crystal Wylie can be reached at cwylie@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 6696.
Local News
Estill escapee may have been captured in Knox County
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