Teens who
escaped from camp caught in Everglades City
Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Two Lee County teenagers who escaped Sunday from a wilderness camp in southeast Collier County were apprehended Monday night in Everglades City by a plainclothes deputy.
Deputies received tips from people who reported seeing Mike Pryor, 15, and James Danley, 16, around Everglades City on Monday afternoon. At about 8 p.m. the Collier County Sheriff's Office deputy drove up to Pryor and Danley on Riverside Drive, told them he was lost and asked them if they were from around Everglades City. The teens said they weren't and told the deputy they were from Cape Coral.
The deputy then arrested Pryor and Danley. The teens were about 12 miles from the wilderness camp.
The Sheriff's Office reported that neither of the teens attempted to run. They were in good shape, although they were a bit tired from their overnight run through the woods, deputies said.
Pryor and Danley were returning to their dormitories from the bathrooms at the Big Cypress Wilderness Institute at about 2:40 p.m. Sunday when others at the camp reported seeing them run into the woods. The Big Cypress Wilderness Institute, 25959 Turner River Road in Ochopee, is a privately run wilderness camp for teenage boys.
The Sheriff's Office was notified of the escape and a subsequent search of the woods was conducted. Deputies were following footsteps Sunday, but were not able to locate either teen.
Word of the escape alarmed some people staying at the nearby Trail Lakes Camp Ground. David Shealy, who owns the campground and the attached skunk ape research headquarters, said he notified all his campers about the escape and warned them not to let strangers into their trailers. Shealy said his brother stayed up all night Sunday guarding the front gate of the park.
"There's been a lot of escapes and another downside is the people who own the camp don't want the bad publicity," Shealy said. "In my opinion those kids should be at home with their parents, and if they can't handle it there, they should be in jail."
The wilderness camp's executive director, Daniel Washington, said this is only the second escape in the nearly six years he's been working at the camp.
Neither Pryor nor Danley had been having any problems at the wilderness camp, Washington said. Danley entered the camp on June 28, and Pryor entered on July 25, Washington said. Both would have graduated from the camp in six months if they had stayed put and done well in the program.
"They will automatically be bumped up to a higher level program," Washington said. "They just showed they can't be trusted in a non-secure environment."
Washington said the two teens probably ran because they didn't want to remain in the camp and didn't want to take responsibility for their actions. The decision to escape is going to hurt Pryor and Danley in the long run, he said.
"They definitely didn't think that far ahead, which they never do," Washington said. "Teenagers think short-term."
According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, Pryor was arrested in 2005 for burglary and vehicle theft. Danley has been arrested seven times since March 31, for a variety of offenses, including burglary, vehicle theft, fraud and illegal use of a credit card.
Pryor and Danley will be interviewed and taken to a juvenile detention center, the Collier Sheriff's Office reported.
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