RPD: 1 fugitive jailed, 1 found dead from suicide

Jason Truitt | The Palladium-Item

RICHMOND, Ind. — The hunt is over.

Richmond Police Department confirmed Saturday morning that two fugitives from Hamilton County who had sparked a large manhunt on the city's north side Friday had been found.

Charles T. Estep, 27, was lodged in the Wayne County Jail, and his brother, Alan R. Estep, 27, was found dead from an apparent suicide, said RPD Major Jon Bales in a news release.

At about 6:20 Saturday morning, Charles Estep was seen in the area of Meijer at 2507 Chester Blvd. RPD responded quickly and saw Estep enter the tree line east of Meijer, the release said. Officers from multiple agencies set up a perimeter, and the Richmond SWAT team responded to the scene.

SWAT team members took Charles Estep into custody at 7:43 a.m., the release said. He is lodged in the jail on outstanding warrants for a parole violation and child molesting as a Level 4 felony.

SWAT team members located the body of Alan Estep in a wooded area south of where his brother was apprehended, the release said. He had died from an apparent suicide. Alan Estep also was wanted for child molesting as a Level 1 felony.

Charges for both men originated in Hamilton County.

Bales said in the release that "inter-agency cooperation and coordination of communication between the agencies was a key component to the success of the operation."

Personnel from RPD, Richmond Fire Department, Wayne County Sheriff's Department, U.S. Marshals Service, Indiana State Police, Hamilton County Sheriff's Department, Indiana University Police Department, Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Centerville Police Department were assisted by the Wayne County Emergency Operations Center during the two-day manhunt.

The hunt began at about 1 p.m. Friday when RPD officers tried to apprehend the two men at Middlefork Reservoir. The suspects fled on foot, first into the reservoir and then into a large heavily wooden area, eventually managing to get away from the officers.

Indiana University East and Ivy Tech Community College issued alerts Friday afternoon placing their campuses on lockdown. A couple of hours later, officers were staged in the parking lots for the schools to help students and staff get to their vehicles and off campus as the buildings were evacuated.

Ivy Tech announced at 3:30 p.m. Friday that the area surrounding its campus remained an active police scene and that the campus was closed, with normal operations expected to resume Saturday morning. IU East closed its campus shortly thereafter.

In an alert sent Saturday morning, Ivy Tech announced campus remained closed and normal operations would resume Monday. IU East also said its campus would be closed Saturday and Sunday before reopening Monday.

Staff from the RPD, RFD, the sheriff's department, IU East police, state police, the marshals and DNR began the search in the reservoir area Friday.

Initially, a pair of drones, including RFD's device that has infrared capability, and a boat were used in the search.

At around 5 p.m. Friday, reinforcements arrived in the form of emergency response teams from Hamilton County and the state police, including armored trucks and utility task vehicles.

Members of the Centerville officers also arrived to pitch in, and the DNR brought another boat.

But the extra manpower wasn't enough to find the suspects on Friday, and the search at the reservoir was called off at about 7:30 p.m.

In a news release issued Friday evening, RPD officials said "a heavy law enforcement presence in the area continues to search" for the suspects.

Jason Truitt is the team leader and senior reporter at the Palladium-Item. Contact him at (765) 973-4459 or jtruitt@pal-item.com