(CNN) — An inmate who escaped from a Missouri jail in September has been caught in a Delaware bunker he made of foliage around a fallen tree, according to the US Marshals Service.
Drake Kately, 28, was found near New Castle on Tuesday, marshals said, after he escaped from the county jail in Mercer County, almost 1,000 miles away.
Kately was being held on state charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, parole violation for burglary, and a previous escape charge.
With the help of the Greater Kansas Crime Stoppers and the public, investigators followed up on tips and leads across several states. By mid-October, they were able to hone in on the New Castle area.
This was Kately’s second escape from the county jail, said Mercer County Sheriff Stephen Stockman. The first time, he got under fencing at the exercise yard and dug a hole about 16 inches wide and 7 inches deep.
During his second escape, “he got a board from under the sink and pried the expanded metal from the wall out of sight of the cameras and crawled out,” Stockman said. “He then went to the basement and out the coal chute.”
The second time, Kately had someone outside waiting for him. That person drove him to Kansas City, where a friend took him to Delaware, Stockman said.
He was found in a wooded area near Wilmington hiding in a self-made shelter after clothes were spotted hanging on a tree branch, authorities said.
Kately is awaiting extradition to face his Missouri charges, they said.
CNN reached out to Kately’s attorney for comment but has not heard back.
Kately will not be held at the Mercer County Jail when he returns, Stockman said.
