Chris Rossetti
YOUNGSVILLE, Pa. – An additional $10,000 has been added to the reward for information leading to the capture of escaped Warren Jail prisoner Michael C. Burham.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Operations for the Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens, the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers has offered an additional $10,000 to what was already a nearly $10,000 reward that was being offered between the U.S. Marshals and the Warren County Crime Stoppers.
The U.S. Marshals had already offered a $7,500 reward and the Warren County Crime Stoppers had already offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to Burham’s apprehension. That now puts the reward at $19,500.
“We are getting tips on a very regular basis,” Bivens said. “The coverage (of his escape) has generated additional leads, and we follow up on each tip.”
Bivens said tips have come in from at least four different states, but much of the effort of the search for Burham has focused in Northwestern Pennsylvania and Southwestern New York.
But Bivens said none of the out-of-state tips have been able to be conclusively tied to Burham saying that the tips were people “suggesting someone has seen something suspicious that they want to report” or “possible sightings or information they heard from someone else that they wanted to pass along.”
“We continue to receive strong response from the public to our request for assistance,” Bivens said. “The pace and scope of this investigation continues to increase as we investigate leads in this area and adjacent states.”
Anyone with information about Burham is now asked to call 717-265-9650. This is a new number for tips, although previous numbers for tips will still be answered.
Burham is considered armed and dangerous by the Pennsylvania State Police, and anyone who sees him is cautioned not to approach him but instead to dial 911.
“He is a dangerous individual,” Bivens said. “People should be alert to that.”
Burham, 34, was being held in the Warren County Jail on accusations of kidnapping and burglary, charges he was arraigned for on June 19. He is also a person of interest in the murder of a New York woman in May. He originally fled the Jamestown, N.Y. area before allegedly kidnapping a Sheffield couple before being arrested in South Carolina and extradited back to Pennsylvania.
He escaped the Warren County Jail in the late hours of Thursday, July 6, by climbing through the roof of the exercise yard and then using bed sheets tied together to escape from the roof.
Burham is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs approximately 150 pounds. He was last seen in orange and white prison pants and a blue Warren Jail denim jacket, but authorities believe he has since changed clothes. It is unknown if he has grown a beard, shaved, cut his hair, or otherwise altered his appearance.
