An Arkansas inmate who escaped prison in 1985, was finally recaptured on Sunday. But how he managed to evade authorities for 32 years remains a mystery.
The prisoner, Steven Dishman who is now 60-years-old, was serving a seven-year sentence for theft of property and burglary convictions in Washington County, Arkansas, the Associated Press reported. Dishman was sentenced in 1984 and would have been eligible for parole in 1987, but after serving only a year he escaped.
He was arrested at a Springdale home in Northwest Arkansas by local law enforcement and state troopers. In an email to the New York Times, Trooper Elizabeth S. Chapman, spokeswoman for the Arkansas State Police, said that a person who met Dishman a few years after his escape gave them a tip, which led police to his whereabouts.
“Special agents of the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division have begun to question individuals who may have known Dishman by another name,” she wrote. She told the Times the matter was being investigated and did not provide any further details.
According to the Arkansas Department of Correction, two other inmates who escaped in the 1980’s have yet to be found. One escaped in 1984, the year Dishman was convicted and another in 1988. There’s a total of four inmates left to be found by the ADC, one escaped as early as this month. A fifth inmate tried to escape this weekend but was quickly recaptured on Sunday, a day after his escape.
The length of time between Dishman’s conviction and recapture are very telling in his then and now appearance. He was once a hairy faced man with long dark hair that brushed over his eyes and shoulders– now his face is naked and his gray hair sits just above his ears.
A neighbor who lived across the street from where Dishman was arrested, told the Times he was unaware of Dishman’s arrest until he read Monday’s paper. He described Dishman as “nothing but nice” and “people you would be thankful to have as neighbors,” referring to the other person who lived in the house with Dishman.
Dishman will be required to serve the rest of his sentence, but whether he will be facing additional time and charges for his escape is not yet known.
