FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — An Arizona fugitive’s accomplice was acting as a drug mule for a white-supremacist group and agreed to become a police informant weeks before she helped him escape from prison, authorities said Friday.
Casslyn Welch and John McCluskey, who is Welch’s fiance and cousin, are now considered among the most-wanted fugitives in America. Authorities say Welch helped McCluskey and two other men escape from the Arizona State Prison in Kingman on July 31 by throwing wire cutters over a fence.
Daniel Renwick and Tracy Province have since been captured.
Welch was visiting McCluskey at the medium-security prison in June when a random search of Welch and her vehicle turned up marijuana, heroin and drug paraphernalia, said Mohave County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Trish Carter.
Welch wasn’t jailed because she agreed to become an informant, and she provided information about the drugs’ suppliers, Carter said.
Welch told investigators she was being paid by members or associates of supremacists to smuggle heroin into the prison as she had done successfully three times before. She declined to say whom the items were intended for at the prison.
Fidencio Rivera, chief deputy U.S. marshal for Arizona, said authorities think Welch and McCluskey have minimal ties to white-supremacist groups in or out of prison, and “we’re not expending much resources on that right now.”
The search continued Friday for Welch and McCluskey, but it no longer was focused on Arkansas, where Welch has family, or Montana, where the two last were seen Aug. 6. Rivera said the pair could be anywhere.
“It’s a cat-and-mouse game right now,” he said. “They’re hiding, and we’re trying to find them.”
A reward of up to $35,000 is being offered for information leading to the pair’s arrest. They are thought to be traveling in a 1997 Nissan Sentra that is gold, gray or tan in color. Authorities say the two probably will become more dangerous as the manhunt continues.
“Our concern is that they’re still desperate. There’s a lot of attention on them,” Rivera said. “They’re going to potentially make a mistake and hurt somebody.”
Marshals are asking travelers at truck stops along highways and in campgrounds nationwide to watch out for the couple, who might have dyed their hair and otherwise changed their appearance.
McCluskey — who was serving a 15-year prison term for attempted second-degree murder — and Welch are financing their getaway by committing crimes along the way and using their experience as long-haul truck drivers, Rivera said. Their route has crossed at least 1,900 miles since their escape.
