A murder suspect, Michael Burham, fled from a Pennsylvania jail near the New York state line, and soon after, a couple residing in Western New York discovered their dog dead and some male clothing missing from their bedroom, Your Content has learned.
Lauraine Peterson, the victim of the burglary, She does not believe the timing of these events is coincidental. She suspects that Burham may have been in the area previously. In May, following the alleged killing of Kala Hodgkin in Jamestown, New York, Peterson and her boyfriend Harold Lobb noticed unusual activity at their neighbor’s house while the owner was away.
At the time, the police arrived to find broken windows, but the intruder had escaped after charging a cellphone, according to Peterson. On Friday, approximately 12 hours after Burham’s escape from Warren County Jail by using bedsheets as a rope, the police returned, launching an interstate manhunt. Burham had been detained on charges of kidnapping and other related offenses and is also suspected of rape and murder in New York.
Peterson, a nurse, disclosed that their clothing and their dog were missing, while food was also absent from the freezer. However, their firearms were safely locked away. State police have not yet provided a comment, and it remains uncertain if the fugitive can be connected to the burglary in Jamestown, which is approximately 20 miles from the jail.
The stolen clothes consist of a blue hooded sweatshirt displaying “Lobbs Automotive,” her boyfriend’s business name, on the left upper chest, with a car logo on the back, as well as a pair of dark gray sweatpants. On Friday, authorities reported that Burham was last seen wearing an orange-striped jail jumpsuit with a denim jacket over it, along with orange “Crocs-style” shoes.
Peterson and Lobb had rescued a dog two years ago, which weighed a mere 2.5 pounds and struggled to walk. They nurtured her back to health and named her “Sweetpea.” The dog had become fiercely protective of their home, barking at other dogs, bobcats, and wildlife that came near their property.
Lobb left for work around 7:30 a.m. on Friday, and Peterson went out for breakfast with friends an hour later. Around 11 a.m., a passing driver knocked on their door but found them absent. The driver then approached Lobb’s daughter in the detached apartment and informed her that the dog was discovered dead on the roadside.
Peterson speculated, “If my dog was on him, she’d have chased him across the road. I don’t know if she got hit by a car, or did she throw herself?“
Pennsylvania State Police believe that Burham is still in the vicinity and urge anyone with information regarding his whereabouts to contact 814-728-3600 or 911. The U.S. Marshals Service and Warren County Crime Stoppers are offering a combined reward of $9,500 for relevant information.
Burham, described as a “self-taught survivalist with military training,” is considered armed and dangerous by the police. The area surrounding the incident is predominantly rural and borders Allegheny State Park in Pennsylvania.
Matt Mangino, a former district attorney in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, stated, “If you have the survival skills, there’s a lot of opportunity to evade police. I think it’s inevitable that police are going to find him it just depends how long it’s going to take and what other damage or victims might come about because of this man”, according to FOX News.