Marshals Arrest Oklahoma Corrections’ Longest Outstanding Escape Suspect

U.S. Marshals arrested a man last week in Texas who escaped an Oklahoma state prison nearly 40 years ago–making him Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ longest outstanding escape suspect.

Paris, 58, was one of Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ “Most Wanted,” for his 1981 escape from the Jess Dunn Correctional Center in Muskogee.

U.S. Marshals adopted the cold case approximately six weeks ago. Investigators discovered an obituary of Paris’s mother, which listed a son by the name Stephen Michael Chavez. The Marshals tracked the name and found that Paris had been living and working under that alias in the Houston area. Paris was arrested without incident, and a fingerprint match confirmed his identity.

Paris, who was 22 at the time, had served approximately 19 months of a nine-year sentence when he escaped. His convictions included possession and distribution of drugs.