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SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Florida — The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office says that three time Upper Peninsula fugitive John Saatio has been located and captured.
Deputies say a citizen called their dispatch center shortly before 7:00 p.m. Sunday night to let them know about a suspicious person walking in a wooded area. Based on the description provided, that person was believed to be Saatio.
Deputies arrived at the scene a short time later and deployed a K-9 unit. They began tracking Saatio along the southeast side of Antietam Road in Milton, Florida, going through a large field and several small creeks in the process. Saatio was apprehended about four hours later without incident.
He was searched by deputies, who say two makeshift handcuff keys were located in his socks. Saatio was transported to the Santa Rosa County Jail, where he remains under close watch.
Saatio will be charged with escape and possession of a handcuff key. Additional charges are pending.
K-9 units from the Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Century Correctional Institutes as well as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission assisted in the capture of Saatio.
John Saatio escaped custody from the private transportation company in Florida Saturday evening. The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office received a call Saturday at 10:30 p.m. in reference to a missing inmate.
The escape occurred at a rest area on Interstate 10 in Santa Rosa County.
Employees with the transportation company told deputies that they stopped at a rest stop for a bathroom break. When they took a head count, one person was missing. Employees said they found shackles and handcuffs near the restroom around 10:30 p.m.
He escaped from police in Houghton back in June of 2015, and was captured last month by authorities in Costa Rica, before escaping again from a detention center. He was captured by authorities in less than 48 hours, and transferred to Texas.
Saatio was extradited in June of 2016 to the Harris County Jail in Texas and was in the process of being brought back to Houghton.
