Marshals: 1972 prison escapee may have fled to Canada, died
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Federal marshals think they may finally know what happened to a Pennsylvania prison inmate who escaped from a work detail after a devastating flood almost a half-century ago.
The U.S. Marshals Service says 43-year-old William Van Scoten was working on a State Correctional Institution-Dallas prison detail after Hurricane Agnes in 1972. He was two years into a 10- to 20-year burglary sentence.
Officials said Friday a family member told them Van Scoten assumed the name of David Paul Hudson, lived in Ontario, Canada, and died in 2003 in Waterford, Ontario. Confirmation from Canadian authorities is awaited.