Report: More than 1,000 inmates in Conn. on lam

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A newspaper reports that more than 1,000 prisoners in Connecticut have never returned after walking away from halfway houses or parole.

The Hartford Courant reports that its review found that since 1970, 15,255 inmates were listed as escaped or absconded after leaving halfway houses or bolting from their parole officers.

Nearly 1,100 are still missing.

Of those, the newspaper says nearly half were convicted of drug offenses and 137 were serious offenders, including six who were convicted of manslaughter, and 28 who were convicted of felony assault.

The newspaper reports that the median time an inmate who was caught remained beyond the reach of the law was 70 days.

A prison official says only one inmate has escaped from a secured facility in the past 10 years.