LAKE BUTLER, Fla. – Two convicts who escaped Wednesday morning from the Lake Butler Reception and Medical Center while serving time for crimes in Jacksonville were captured about 12 hours later near High Springs in Alachua County.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a trooper pulled over William Bruton and Justin McCullough about 9:30 p.m. and took them into custody without incident.
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According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the two men were seen coming out of woods near U.S. 129 and waving down a car driven by Ryan Whitwood of Bell. Troopers were told that McCullough gave Whitwood $50 for a ride to Interstate 75.
Officials didn't say if Whitwood would be charged.
Officers with the Department of Corrections and Union County sheriff's deputies searched all day for the two men who were on work detail on prison grounds but outside the fence when they were seen getting into a white SUV.
Union County Sheriff Jerry Whitehead believes this was a planned escaped involving a third party.
The prison remained on lockdown much of the day in case the two are somewhere on the property, but authorities believed the men had left the area.
Bruton who was serving 10 years for a homicide and Justin McCullough were serving three years for robbery.
Bruton left Jacksonville in 2000 after he ran down Michael Pierce -- the brother of Bruton's ex-girlfriend -- with a dump truck. He was caught in South Carolina three years later.
Bruton was extradited to Jacksonville, where he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sent to prison.
McCullough was serving time for a robbery charge from Jacksonville.
Because of good behavior, Bruton was classified a minimum-security prisoner and began doing work details outside the prison fence last November.
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- November 21, 2007: 2 Convicts Escape Union County Prison