State troopers looking for an escaped Pennsylvania murder suspect say they have found stockpiles and campsites which appear to be connected to him, leading them to believe he has not left the area near the New York state line where the incident began.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 34-year-old Michael Burham slipped out of a recreation yard late Thursday night and climbed down a rope made from tied-together bedsheets to escape the Warren County Jail.
Burham is the prime suspect in the rape and shooting death of 34-year-old Kala Hodgkin in her Jamestown, New York, home on May 11 and is also accused of setting fire to another woman’s car that same day.
Burham allegedly remained in the area for more than a week after Hodgkin’s murder, then reportedly kidnapped an elderly Warren County couple from their home in Sheffield at gunpoint and drove them to South Carolina in their car. The couple was later found safe, but Burham avoided capture for days hiding in the woods.
He has been charged with the kidnapping in Pennsylvania but has not yet been charged in the Jamestown murder.
Investigators went door to door in the city of Warren immediately after the escape and engaged dogs, helicopters and drones, Erie News Now reported. The search has since expanded into Allegany National Forest, a short distance from the jail. They said they don’t believe he has left the Jamestown-Warren area, but his self-taught survivalist skills and military training mean he is likely in the woods.
Investigators said they had reached out to the couple who was kidnapped to make sure they’re safe.
Meanwhile they’re searching residences, abandoned structures, and woods based on multiple tips.
U.S. Marshals are offering a $7,500 reward and Warren Crime Stoppers is offering an additional $2,000 reward for information leading to Burham’s arrest.
Anyone with information is asked to call State Police in Warren at 814-728-3600 and not to approach Burham.
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[Featured image: Michael Burham/Warren Police Department]
