According to a report, Tucker, a chocolate lab, may have won his owners a $22,000 prize this weekend after aiding in the arrest of an escaped prison offender.
In Warren County, Pennsylvania, the Ecklunds were sitting on their patio when their dog Tucker suddenly rushed to the creek, barking all the way. They tried calling Tucker back to no avail.
Their dog, according to Ron, was more determined than usual. They reasoned that it was likely just someone who was fishing down by the stream, so Ron drove the golf cart down there while Cindy walked.
Once the pair reached the stream, a man’s head appeared over a bank, and he informed them that he was camping.
According to the Ecklunds, they instantly identified the individual as Michael Charles Burham, a wanted New York murder suspect detained on abduction allegations at the Warren County Jail before his escape.
The pair told media that Burham’s image had been plastered all over the media throughout the weeklong search.
Reports show that Burham was arrested on abduction allegations and was being detained in the county jail. While on the run from New York law enforcement, where he is suspected of the murder of Kala Hodgkin in May, he is also suspected of kidnapping a couple from Warren County.
Last month, District Attorney Jason Schmidt of Chautauqua County announced that no state charges would be filed against Burham concerning the homicide.
In May, he faced charges of evading justice by fleeing to another country by the U.S. District Court for Western New York. According to the court transcript from June 16, the count was dismissed without prejudice.
Federal prosecutors claim Hodgkin was shot and killed in her house. According to the complaint, Burham had an outstanding arrest warrant for rape at the time of the murder.
According to the complaint, as authorities were headed to Hodgkin’s house, they received a second call reporting that Michael Charles Burham had attempted to break into a former girlfriend’s house and set her vehicle on fire.
The Jamestown Police Department in New York said that Burham went on the run, sending officials on a multistate search until his apprehension on May 24 in South Carolina.
