An Arkansas prison escapee who eluded the authorities for more than 30 years was taken into custody at a home in a quiet neighborhood in Springdale, Ark., on Sunday, officials said.

How the inmate, Steven Dishman, had been getting by and where he had been for more than three decades were not immediately clear.

A spokeswoman for the Arkansas State Police, Trooper Elizabeth S. Chapman, said in an email that a person who met Mr. Dishman about five years after his 1985 escape came forward during the weekend, which led the police to the home in Springdale, about 200 miles northwest of Little Rock.

She would not elaborate on the person’s relationship to Mr. Dishman or why the tipster came forward. She said that information was under investigation.