Michael Burham, an escaped fugitive and murder suspect, was discovered by a dog that belonged to a Pennsylvania couple. Cindy and Ron Ecklund alerted authorities after their dog brought attention to the man in the woods behind their home.
Burham was being held at Warren County Jail on arson and burglary charges. He is also a suspect in the homicide of Kayla Hodgkin. He is also accused of kidnapping an elderly couple in Pennsylvania.
He escaped from the jail on July 6. Authorities say he climbed on exercise equipment, through a window, and down a rope made from bedsheets.
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Burham had been on the run for nine days before his capture. And Tucker, the Ecklunds' labradoodle, gets all the credit.
The couple say they were outside enjoying time on their property, which adjoins the 800-square mile Allegheny Forest. Tucker started barking, and then took off into the woods.
"He wouldn't come back," Ron Ecklund said. "Normally he'll come back when I call, so Cindy and I jumped on the golf cart." Once they got into the woods, they discovered why Tucker hadn't come back. There was a man by the creek that the couple instantly knew was Burham.
"I knew it was him. I saw him kind of startled, you know, and I said: 'What are you doing in here?'" Burham replied that he was camping, but the couple didn't believe him because he didn't have any gear.
The Ecklunds drove back to their property, and Cindy called 911. Authorities soon showed up and took Burham back into custody.
The Ecklunds will receive a $22,000 reward for helping authorities find the fugitive. They shared that they plan to gift Tucker lots of tennis balls with the money.
