MELBOURNE, Fla. (MyFoxBoston.com) — A fugitive who escaped from an Ohio prison in 1959 was arrested in Florida Tuesday, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said.
Frank Freshwater, 79, was arrested at a home after the cold case unit of the U.S. Marshal's northern Ohio violent fugitive task force sent the Florida county sheriff's office information that Freshwater was in the Melbourne area, which is about an hour southeast of Orlando.
Freshwater was arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant that charged him with escape. He was taken to the Brevard County Jail where he will await extradition back to Ohio.
Freshwater was initially jailed at the Ohio State Reformatory (also known as the Shawshank State Prison) and later escaped from the Sandusky Ohio Honor Farm in 1959 after serving seven months of a 20-year sentence for violating the terms of his probation in regard to a manslaughter conviction.
Authorities say he had been living living under the alias of William H. Cox.
During the time he was a fugitive, Freshwater lived in several states working as a truck driver before settling in Brevard County, Florida. Investigators believe he has been in that area for about 20 years.
Cox Media Group
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