Columbus County Inmate follow-up

Columbus County residents can now rest easy, knowing escaped inmate Archie Funderburk is back behind bars.

But some residents wonder why law enforcement didn’t find him sooner, after all, he was captured only 300 yards away from their command post.

“Still to this day, I cannot figure out how they missed him, he was so close,” said Sarah Cobb, a neighbor to the house where Funderburk was hiding behind.

Authorities found him in the woods just 300 yards away from the command post off bypass 701. According to Columbus County Chief Deputy Lewis Hatcher, the shed was checked with no sign of Funderburk. “At some point or another, the inmate had gone in, made a bed on the floor, and when the homeowner came down to check his property, he saw it and came down and alerted authorities.”

Funderburk escaped Thursday from the medium custody highway squad. Department of Corrections says inmates have to be eligible for the program. They must be recommended by a superior and be physically capable of performing manual labor. They must have no history of violent behavior or escaping from supervision, and be within 36 months of parole.

Funderburk clearly fit all these descriptions, but still managed to escape.

Typically the highway squad has about eight inmates working at a time, and is typically under constant supervision by an armed officer.