Manhunt Continues For Escaped Fugitive

Authorities are continuing their manhunt for a fugitive who escaped from a rest stop in Natrona County last month.

Sweetwater County Sheriff's Department spokesman Dick Blust says 51 year old Kenneth James Ward has been wanted in Sweetwater County since 2010 for felony larceny. Blust says Ward had been tracked to northwest Mexico and was arrested there by Mexican authorities, who handed him over to to U.S. law enforcement.

Blust says Ward was to be returned to Sweetwater County, but on August 31 he escaped from the Independence Rock Rest Area in Natrona County. Blust says Ward was being transported by guards with a private prisoner transport company when he escaped..

He also says there was a report on Tuesday of a possible sighting of Ward at the Love's Truck Stop near Wamsutter, but an investigation turned up no sign of the fugitive. Ward is described as a 51 year old white male, 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Blust advises motorists on Interstate 80 not to pick up hitchhikers and says people who think they see Ward should not approach him, but should report the location of the sighting to law enforcement.