Reward for Escaped Convict Up to $50,000; Local and State Officials Continuing Investigation - Chapelboro.com (2024)

Posted by Brighton McConnell | Aug 15, 2024 | Crime, Safety

UPDATE: Law enforcement captured and took Ramone Alston back into custody on Friday, August 16. Click here to read Chapelboro’s latest coverage.

Below is additional coverage on the manhunt, first published on Wednesday, August 14 and updated on August 15.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s office announced Thursday the reward for information leading to Ramone Alston’s arrest is now increased to $50,000. The state government added another $5,000, while the FBI contributed $10,000 to a sum already supported by the Department of Adult Correction and United States Marshals Service.

The manhunt for a convict stretched into a second day in Hillsborough on Wednesday, as Orange County and state authorities continued investigating how a prisoner escaped while arriving at a local hospital for a medical appointment. By the afternoon, investigators began winding down their ground search efforts for the 30-year-old — with the Orange County sheriff adding he feels as if investigators have some “rock solid” leads they are pursuing.

“There is someone out there who knows where Alston is,” said Secretary Todd Ishee of the NC Department of Adult Correction in a release. “We hope that this reward will bring them forward with the critical information that leads to Alston’s capture.”

Alston, who has been charged with felony escape, freed himself from leg restraints and ran out of a Department of Adult Correction transport vehicle when it arrived to UNC Hospitals’ Hillsborough campus at 7 a.m. on Tuesday. The state department, in coordination with Orange County Emergency Services, the sheriff’s office and more than a dozen other law enforcement agencies, then began its ground search efforts. After 335 personnel covered more than 1,330 acres by Wednesday afternoon, Orange County Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders said investigators feel “pretty comfortable he’s not in the vicinity and community is not in imminent danger.”

With that, Director of Communications for the Department of Adult Correction Keith Acree said the ground and aerial response around Hillsborough will be suspended and the Department of Adult Correction will take over the investigation.

“All the resources we’ve seen on the ground in the past 48 hours have done an exhaustive job of searching the local area,” said Acree. “We’re pretty certain that Mr. Alston is not in the immediate area. So, at this point, this becomes a more of a phase where we follow tips, follow leads, and work the investigative angle of this — responding to things that we hear.”

Toward the end of the afternoon press conference, Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said there are two leads law enforcement are pursuing and they “feel good” about the investigation despite the suspension of the ground search.

“And that’s a teaser to the folks out that know what’s going on and know they were involved in it,” added the sheriff. “We know you and we’re coming for you.”

Alston is serving a life sentence over a first-degree murder charge in the 2015 shooting of an infant in Chapel Hill. He is described as a Black male who was wearing a gray t-shirt, brown pants, and white New Balance tennis shoes when he escaped, as well as as well as handcuffs connected to a belly chain. While his hair was in dreadlocks tied back,Blackwood said it is possible Alston has already changed his appearance and hair, and he encouraged the community to focus on identifying him by his face.

Blackwood said since sharing alerts about Alston’s escape, the sheriff’s office and 911 center have been inundated with calls about the manhunt. It led to the investigators establishing a new phone line for people to call — 919-324-1082 — to leave any tips, and after the state announced an initial $25,000 reward for information that leads to Alston’s capture, the U.S. Marshals service contributed $10,000 more on Wednesday.

The Orange County Sheriff said Wednesday morning he hopes the reward is substantial enough amount to convince anyone who may know about Alston’s escape effort to come forward.

“Somebody knows, out there, that this was planned and they know who’s involved in it,” Blackwood added, “and we hope that motivates them to do the right thing and let us know, so that we can bring this to a successful conclusion… and a just conclusion.”

The sheriff also implored Hillsborough residents who have home security cameras to check their systems and footage from the last day and overnight hours to see if they recorded anything suspicious.

The Orange County sheriff added that the hospital cameras at UNC Hospitals Hillsborough have been reviewed, but also do not provide much insight into how Alston removed the leg restraints.

“It doesn’t show a lot because it happened so quickly,” Blackwood said, adding that the video is in a stop-gap format compared to a continuous feed. “The [vehicle] door opens, his foot hits the ground, and then he’s out of the frame. He was moving quickly — more quickly than the camera could capture.”

As the Wednesday morning press conference came to a close, the sheriff added that Alston is no stranger to him. Not only was he involved in the high-profile murder case in the county, but Blackwood attended school with Alston’s father while growing up.

“I’ve known Ramone since he was born,” he said. “He was a troubled child and he’s been involved in criminal activity since he was a juvenile.

“He is extremely cagey, he’s extremely dangerous, and he has nothing to lose,” Blackwood concluded.

Featured photo via the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

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