Authorities find getaway car used by 4 inmates who escaped Georgia jail, offer $73,000 reward
Investigators have recovered the vehicle used to help four jail inmates — including a murder suspect — escape custody in central Georgia last week, the Bibb County Sheriff's Office announced on Saturday.
A criminal intelligence unit and special response team with the sheriff's office found the blue Dodge Challenger in the parking lot of a Biomat USA — a blood and plasma donation center — in Macon, a city about 80 miles southeast of Atlanta where the jail is located. Authorities followed leads to locate the car, and Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said in a statement that he "appreciates the tips and every lead that we have received and is being followed up on."
Earlier, the sheriff's office raised the rewards for information leading to the arrests of the escaped inmates. Rewards of $1,000 per arrest were offered initially, but on Wednesday, law enforcement said the combined reward stood at $73,000, with the sheriff offering rewards of up to $20,000 for information leading to the inmates' captures and additional compensation from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Macon Regional Crime Stoppers and the U.S. Marshals Service.
The Bibb County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Service have each promised $5,000 to anyone who can provide tips leading to a single arrest. Macon Regional Crime Stoppers is offering another $2,000 per arrest. Meanwhile, the FBI has offered $10,000 for the capture of one of the escaped inmates, 37-year-old Johnifer Barnwell, who was convicted earlier in October on federal drug trafficking charges and is expected to receive a significant prison sentence, the sheriff's office said. The office previously said Barnwell was being detained for the U.S. Marshals Service.
The FBI has also offered up to $5,000 for the arrests of the other three inmates who escaped: 52-year-old Joey Fournier, who is charged with murder; 29-year-old Chavis Stokes, who was detained for possession of a firearm and drug trafficking; and 25-year-old Marc K. Anderson, who was being held at the jail for aggravated assault.
The four inmates fled from the Bibb County Detention Center in the early morning hours on Oct. 16, by climbing through a damaged window in a day room and subsequently slipping past a cut fence, Bibb County authorities said. A blue Dodge Challenger then drove up and proceeded to help all four of them escape at about 3 a.m. ET.
Anyone with information about the inmates' possible location has been asked to report what they know to the FBI's and U.S. Marshals Service's respective tip lines at 1-800-CALL-FBI and 1-877-WANTED2. People can also submit tips online through the FBI's website or the U.S. Marshals Service's app.