A convicted murderer was on the lam for more than three hours in the Nelsonville area before law enforcement authorities were notified, records obtained by 10 Investigates shows.

A convicted murderer was on the lam for more than three hours in the Nelsonville area before law enforcement authorities were notified, records obtained by 10 Investigates shows.

Prison officials announced early Monday morning that inmate John Modie was noticed missing when guards did their 11 p.m. head count. However, when prison officials first contacted the Ohio Highway Patrol late Sunday evening, they told troopers Modie had been missing since 9 p.m.

Prison authorities have declined to comment all week about how Modie escaped from the Hocking Unit of the Southeastern Correctional Complex and they would not answer questions about routine inmate checks.

Modie was convicted in 2003 of murder, robbery and escape out of Cuyahoga County and had been serving time in Ohio prisons since then. He was transferred to the Nelsonville medium security prison in 2013.

Prison Union officials expressed concern about staffing levels at the prison on Tuesday.

Resident uneasy

Resident in Nelsonville had mixed feelings about the delay on Wednesday.

"Instantly, I would think that they would instantly,” resident Tammy Ogg said.



"I think they were probably circling the wagons, checking all the facility and around the facility before they sent a bunch of hype out to get people all willy nilly,” resident Sharon Burger.

Local police and the Ohio State Patrol got the call John Modie had escaped from the Hocking Correctional Facility one minute apart. OSP received the call at 11:46 p.m. Sunday night and Nelsonville police received a call at 11:47 p.m.

"Why they didn't let it out, they needed to get on and do it properly,” Ogg said. "It seems like something that you'd hear from another town.”

Guards made their rounds at 9:00 p.m. and noticed Modie was gone. An entry on the patrol log just after midnight reads “not present at 9:00 p.m. count.” Another entry at 1:34 a.m. says “inmate present at 4 p.m. count, missing at 11:00 p.m.”

That leaves a two hour window Modie could have escaped and nearly three hours until law enforcement knew about it.

Residents say there could have been visitors Easter Sunday, and authorities didn’t want to instill panic at the prison.