It's a big Arizona story: Three inmates escaped from the Arizona State Prison last week with suspected help from an inmate's fiancee. They are all considered high-risk criminals due to their various convictions including murder and assault. 

Daniel Renwick, Tracy Province and John McCluskey somehow managed to come up with a plan that allowed them to escape through the prison's fence on Friday, July 30, without being spotted and captured by prison guards.

According to reports, Province's fiancee met the inmates near the prison's fence and was able to throw them a pair of wire cutters. They then managed to cut their way out of the prison grounds and escape the area.

Yet to be apprehended are Province (42 and convicted of murder and robbery) and McCluskey (45 and convicted of attempted murder and aggravated assault). Renwick, 36 and convicted of two counts of second-degree murder, was caught by police on Sunday in Colorado.

With Renwick being captured, there are still two high-risk escapees on the loose, and this has the Arizona public and officials worried. Not only are they afraid for their safety from these specific convicts, but they are concerned with the overall security of the Arizona State Prison.

The facility is classified as medium-security, so why were inmates classified as high-risk in that prison in the first place? Arizonans also wonder how the inmates escaped the prison, wearing bright orange jumpsuits, without any prison employees noticing. The investigation into this incident is considering the possibility that prison employees may have been involved in the escape.

For now, the Arizona Department of Corrections is working with the prison's management in order to identify and correct the weaknesses that allowed the three prisoners to escape the Arizona State Prison.

Authorities are aggressively searching for the remaining escapees, McCluskey and Province, who have already committed new offenses since their escape. According to police, the men and Province's fiancee have kidnapped two truck drivers by assaulting them with a gun in order to obtain an escape vehicle.  

Resource

The Associated Press: Arizona inmate escape exposes security flaws (8/5/2010)