A fugitive who allegedly escaped from a prison in Delaware last year has been apprehended by local police.
Officers with the Murrayville-Woodson Police Department arrested 30-year old Jordan McGowan, of Delaware, at around 1 p.m. Monday for an out-of-county warrant and charges of obstructing identification and driving with a suspended or revoked license.
Murrayville-Woodson Police Chief Derek Suttles says law enforcement has encountered McGowan on previous occasions prior to receiving a tip that ultimately led to his arrest.
“We had had several contact with him over the past couple months, and I know the Cass County had a recent contact with him, where he provided us with a name that was not his own. Apparently he’s been living on and off in Woodson and Jacksonville for a couple of months now. We happened to receive a tip while being involved in a different investigation that this individual might be staying there in Woodson under an alias, and that he could possibly have warrants out of one of the states on the east coast,” says Suttles.
It is reported that McGowan provided Murrayville-Woodson Police with a false name when he was pulled over for a traffic stop in January. Suttles explains how the tip led police to McGowan’s location in Woodson.
“The information wasn’t specific, but they believed it was for an escape from prison. So we followed up on that information and found Mr. McGowan at a residence in Woodson. He then admitted that he had given a false name and he provided us with the accurate information at that time, and we were able to confirm that he had a warrant from Delaware,” explains Suttles.
Suttles says that McGowan is believed to have acquaintances in the Murrayville-Woodson area that he’d been living with for several months.
“He had some acquaintances in Woodson that he’d been staying with on and off. We had several interactions with him for one reason or another, including a traffic stop in January. The name he was giving was also an acquaintance of his that is from the Morgan County area. He was able to remember his name, middle initial, and date of birth, which he provided to law enforcement throughout the last couple of months,” Suttles says.
According to Suttles, local authorities have contacted law enforcement agencies in Delaware in regards to McGowan’s arrest, and they’ve been informed that the suspect will be extradited back to Delaware for possible sentencing.