September 22, 2023
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Mario Che-Tiul, who escaped Barry County Jail in Missouri on June 1, was captured by the U.S. Marshals in Chester County on Thursday. He was taken to Chester County Prison and is set to be extradited to Missouri.
A man who escaped a county prison in Missouri more than three months ago was captured in Chester County on Thursday afternoon.
Mario Che-Tiul, 34, was caught at 1:30 p.m. by the U.S. Marshals on Gap Newport Pike in Avondale, a borough about four miles southwest of Kennett Square. He was taken into custody without incident after authorities discovered Che-Tiul may have been living in an apartment in the borough.
Che-Tiul was transported to Chester County Prison to be charged as a fugitive of justice. He will be reprocessed before being extradited to Missouri, according to Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark. Che-Tiul had been hired as a laborer in Chester County after making his way from Missouri, Clark said.
Che-Tiul and six other inmates escaped from Barry County Jail in Cassville, Missouri on June 1. He had been held there since December 2022 on felony molestation charges, 6ABC reported. He broke out by pretending to be sick and luring two correctional officers into his cell, authorities said. He and the other inmates then allegedly attacked the officers, stole their keys and exited through the jail's front door.
The other six inmates were captured shortly after escaping, but Che-Tiul left the state and eluded for more than three months.
Clark told CBS Philadelphia that the 13-day manhunt for Danelo Cavalcante, a convicted murder who spent nearly two weeks on the run in Chester County, had shifted the focus of the U.S. Marshals from tracking down Che-Tiul, but that the service immediately resumed the search after Cavalcante was caught.
After escaping Chester County Prison — the same facility that Che-Tiul was sent to — on Aug. 31, Cavalcante repeatedly circumvented search perimeters established by police until he was spotted hiding in a woodpile in South Coventry Township on Sept. 13. He is now serving his life sentence for killing his ex-girlfriend at SCI Phoenix in Montgomery County.
Clark said U.S. Marshals have help arrest four prison escapees over the last five months – Che-Tiul, Cavalcante and two in Philadelphia.
Following Cavalcante's escape, Chester County Prison has planned major security upgrades, including adding razor wire and using drones and other technology to detect prisoner movements. Prison authorities also are considering the use of K9 units and ankle bracelets for high-risk inmates.
