The Pennsylvania couple who helped police capture a fugitive “self-taught survivalist” said they immediately recognized him from local news coverage.
Cindy and Ron Ecklund have said they were sitting in their backyard on Saturday night when their chocolate Labrador, Tucker, ran to the creek that runs along their backyard and started barking.
The pair then decided to investigate and came face-to-face with Michael Burham, 34, who fled from the Warren County Jail shortly before midnight on July 6 with sheets tied, sparking an urgent multi-agency search .
As they raced back to the house, Ron said he urged his wife to call 911, saying he “knew exactly who that is.”
Arrested just two hours later, Burham was seen walking out of the woods head down and hands cuffed behind his back while flanked by dozens of camouflaged officers.
Cindy and Ron Ecklund shared how they came face to face with a fugitive wanted for murder and rape on Saturday night, when they found him sitting by the creek in their backyard
The couple were alerted to the fugitive’s presence by the barking of their dog, Tucker’s.
Michael Burham, 34, was apprehended just two hours later after a nine-day manhunt
Speaking of their terrifying encounter with the suspected killer and rapist, Ron and Cindy said they were sitting on their patio around 4 p.m. when Tucker ran to the creek and started barking.
At that point, the pair decide to investigate the crowds, they climb into their golf cart and down the hill, where they see a man sitting.
“She said to me — it was a joke when I first went down, she says, ‘Do you want a gun?’ told Ron WIVB.
“I said, ‘No, I don’t need a gun, he’s long gone, it’s a fisherman.’
Ron said he could identify Burham because of his tattoo
As the couple approached Burham, Ron said, he got up “and I asked him, “So what are you doing?” He said, “I’m camping.”‘
told Ron NBC news he then turned around, wished the man a “have a nice day,” and urged Cindy to get back in the golf cart so they could go back to their house.
“We weren’t even halfway across the yard and I thought, ‘Call 911. I know exactly who that is,'” Ron said. “I’ve seen his picture enough, he’s been all over the news.”
He added that he thought Burham was “long gone” as police searched for the suspect for nine days.
“But since he got up, he wasn’t wearing a shirt, I’d seen the long tattoo he had and his face. I said, “No, let’s get in the golf cart, let’s go.”‘
Ron and Cindy also said Burham was carrying a backpack at the time and started walking back into the woods, where police found him around 6pm.
Meanwhile, the Eklunds are eligible for a $22,000 reward, and the police say they want to reward Tucker as well.
Ron and Cindy are eligible for a $22,000 reward from the Warren County Police Department
A multi-agency manhunt for Burham lasted nine days before he was caught on Saturday
Police found a trail of evidence confirming Burham was setting up small encampments in the wooded area as he evaded capture
Police have said they were able to track down Burham after a married couple called to say they had encountered a ‘suspicious person’ when they heard their dog barking in their back garden.
“The owner of the estate recognized him, put his wife back in the golf cart and drove off from there so that he could contact us immediately when Burham fled into the woods,” Warren County Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens said.
The police rushed to the scene and tracked him down in the woods with the help of dogs. He was found in a dirty and disheveled state, wearing his prison pants inside out.
Bivens said the murder suspect was not only covered in dirt, he was also “tired and exhausted” from his week on the run.
The officer said his arrest is a “great relief,” adding: “We were all always worried that we would end up with a civilian getting hurt in some way, or even with one of the officers.
“You always worry about things like that, so to not let that play out is a good day.”
During the week-long search for the suspected killer, police found a trail of evidence confirming that Burham had been setting up small encampments through the wooded area as he evaded capture.
Among the supplies found were clothes, food and a bag of items “someone might need if they were trying to live in the woods,” police said.
Police are now investigating whether Burham had help from a prison official when he made his daring escape.
Burham is suspected of murder and rape. He is pictured in his booking photo
Burham hoisted himself out of Warren County Jail (pictured) by climbing onto exercise equipment and then out of a metal-gated roof
Burham, who has an extensive military record, has a disturbing record of crimes that landed him behind bars, with authorities stressing that he was extremely dangerous while on the run.
Last month, District Attorney Jason Schmidt of Chautauqua County, New York, said Burham is the prime suspect in the May 11 murder of 34-year-old Kala Hodgkin and a related arson attack in Jamestown, New York.
At the time of her death, he was wanted on a separate charge of raping her.
After allegedly shooting Hodgkin to death, he went on the run for two weeks and police are accusing him of kidnapping an elderly couple while evading arrest.
Burham is ‘prime suspect’ in May shooting of 34-year-old Kala Hodgkin
Burham’s first attempt to evade law enforcement in May led him to yet another maddening day-long search, with police at the time claiming the 34-year-old was involved in a “surge of alleged crimes.”
Burham was already wanted by authorities on charges of rape, and it is said that Jamestown police also responded to a domestic violence incident in which Burham’s ex-girlfriend claimed he broke into her home and set her vehicle on fire stabbed.
In the aftermath, the Pennsylvania State Police were contacted by a person concerned that her parents were not attending their granddaughter’s football game on May 20.
The victims were not at home when the police carried out a health check, nor did they answer police calls.
Eventually, South Carolina Highway Patrol officials contacted state police and said they found the victims alive in a cemetery in North Charleston on May 21.
The victims said they were abducted at gunpoint from their home in Sheffield, Pennsylvania and identified Burham as their kidnapper.
He was found later that day hiding in a nearby shed.
A Warren County official said they are now “preparing an isolation cell” for the inmate, but plan to release him from jail. They did not say where he would be transferred.