The Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) is actively searching for two inmates, Justin Turner, 33, and David James, 42, who have been reported as absent without leave from the Jim E. Hamilton Correctional Center in Hodgen. The men were last accounted for on Saturday at the facility that stands in the quiet stretch of LeFlore County, holding its place since 1969, according to KFOR.
Turner and James, whose freedoms were forestalled by the arms of the law for crimes ranging from assault on a police officer to trafficking drugs, disparate yet chain-linked by the barbed confines they shared, both men's stories were confirmed by News9. Turner was serving a 5-year sentence for assault and battery on a police officer and for trafficking in Oklahoma County, and James was within the midst of a 16-year sentence for possession of controlled drugs with intent to distribute, and trafficking in Kay County, the very actions that threaded their pathways towards a minimum-security holding where the watchful eyes couldn't see their silent leave.
Amidst rising concerns, authorities have issued a caution, urging civilians to keep a distance should they encounter the escapees; they've been counseled to instead alert the authorities by dialing 911. This minimum-security emblem of rehabilitation, the Jim E. Hamilton Correctional Center, houses a population that surpasses 700 inmates, a fact highlighted by KOCO, and now two less as the roll call would affirm.
