RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (DarkHorse Press) – Escapee Drew Johnson is in custody. He has been captured in an area near the South Mississippi Correctional Institution, where he escaped on Tuesday afternoon.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Authorities are looking for an escaped inmate that the George County Sheriff’s Department is calling “desperate and very very dangerous.”
“Call your family and alert them. Send messages to them and get responses. People tend to be more generous during Christmas and let their guard down. Be vigilant and be careful,” GCSD posted on their Facebook, along with a booking photo and report of Drew Johnson, 33, of Southaven.
Officials say Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for the 2016 murder of Central Mississippi Correctional Facility inmate Michael Riddle, but has also been convicted of a murder in Southaven and multiple arson charges, escaped from the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville on Tuesday afternoon.
Riddle was found dead in his cell in an incident that looked like a hanging, but officials quickly determined that it appeared to be foul play. Because the homicide happened inside MDOC facility, there is very little public record on the case.
Johnson, who goes by the street name “Monster,“ pleaded guilty in the 2016 death of Calvin Holloway of Southaven, who went missing and his body was found buried in his own backyard. A witness told police she helped Johnson wipe his truck clean. He reportedly also tried to beat a fellow inmate to death with a piece of concrete in the Shelby County Jail in 2021.
Johnson, 33, is a white male with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. While his booking photo shows him without hair, it may be an older photo. He is six feet tall and weighs 200 pounds and he may not be bald at this time. Authorities say he could be making his way north, back toward Southaven.
If you see Drew Johnson, do not try to approach him. Call 911 or your local law enforcement agency.
