A man was found living in a GA apartment. Turns out, he escaped a prison work detail 30 years ago

MACON, Ga. — An Oregon fugitive who walked away from a prison detail in 1994 was found living in plain sight in Georgia.

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On November 29, 1994, Steven Craig Johnson, 70, escaped from the Mill Creek Correctional Facility in Salem, OR. Johnson was serving a sentence for sexual abuse and sodomy.

The facility released a caution that said, “Based on his record, Fugitive Johnson is a pedophile and presents a high probability of victimizing pre-teen boys. Fugitive Johnson should not be allowed contact with children.”

At the request of the Oregon Department of Corrections, the US Marshals Service adopted the case in 2015.

This year, new investigative technology developed new leads in the case.

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During an investigation, officials discovered that Johnson had stolen the identity of a child who died in Texas in January 1962. He was able to get a copy of the child’s birth certificate and obtain a social security number in Texas in 1995. Johnson got a Georgia driver’s license in 1998.

In 2011, became a Macon resident, living under the name of William Cox.

On Tuesday, at 2 p.m., the US Marshals arrested Johnson at his apartment on Vineville Avenue.

He’s currently being held at the Bibb County Jail awaiting extradition to Oregon.

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