2 escaped North Texas jail inmates back in custody after police search near Bonham
UPDATE: Both escapees are back in custody, according to Fannin County authorities. Raymond Ross was found Wednesday afternoon.
PREVIOUS STORY: Bonham police have asked the public to stay away from the area west of Star Street, east of Texas 121, south of Russell Avenue and north of Sam Rayburn Tollway after possible sightings of an escaped inmate on Wednesday.
The Bonham Police Department was assisting the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Department of Public Safety in the search for two men who escaped from the Fannin County Jail over the weekend.
Officials told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV on Wednesday that one of the two men, Ramon Perez, turned himself in to the Bryan County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma and he will be extradited back to Fannin County.
The other escapee, Raymond Ross, is believed to have tried to flag down a car Wednesday morning in Bonham, police said. The driver did not stop and called 911.
“After several possible sightings of one of the escapees from last weekend have been reported we are asking people to stay out of the area ... and asking anybody that sees anybody suspicious to call 911,” Police Chief Andrew Hawkes said in a Facebook post. “The suspect we are looking for has multiple face and neck tattoos and possibly wearing a black hoodie.”
All schools in Bonham ISD went on lockout Wednesday morning as law enforcement officers searched, KXAS-TV reported. Residents in the area were asked to stay indoors during the search.
The two inmates, Ross and Perez, escaped Saturday from the jail’s south annex on County Road 4200 in Bonham, over 70 miles northeast of Dallas, according to a news release from the Fannin County Office of Emergency Management. They were seen on video about 9:15 p.m. running into the woods to the southeast. They were wearing gray sweats.
Ross was previously in custody on charges of evading arrest with a motor vehicle, drug possession and felon in possession of a firearm.
Perez was arrested on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
The Fannin County Sheriff’s Office has asked anyone with information to call 903-583-2143 or 911.
This story was originally published November 29, 2023 at 12:36 PM.
