BEAVER CREEK INMATE ON LOOSE ONLY HOURS BEFORE BEING CAUGHT LAST NIGHT BY OPP K-9 UNIT

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — The escape from Beaver Creek yesterday of an inmate serving a life sentence lasted mere hours.

Jamesie Kownirk was last seen Sunday at 12:30 p.m. on the minimum side of the prison.

Hours later at a scheduled dinnertime head count he was unaccounted for by correctional service staff.

Prison officials at the federal penitentiary said they presumed the 41-year-old had “eloped” from the correctional facility grounds in north east Gravenhurst next to the Muskoka Airport.

On January 5, at 7:40 p.m., OPP say they responded to a report that Kownirk, of Iqaluit, Nunavut, was unaccounted for during at dinnertime check at Beaver Creek Institute — a minimum and medium security prison.

Beaver Creek has an arrangement to house prisoners from Canada’s Northwest Territory of Nunavut.

Police worked closely with staff to locate the inmate. The OPP K-9 Unit along with the OPP Emergency Response Team (ERT) conducted a search in the neighbouring area.

Members of the public were informed they could expect to see increased police activity in the area of the Gravenhurst Parkway, Reay Road, Germania Road and Highway 118 E.

At 9:19 p.m. last night the missing man was found by the OPP K-9 team and taken back into custody.

Police would like to thank members of the public for their patience and vigilance.

Kownirk was described in an earlier police release as an indigenous male, originally from Iqaluit, Nunavit, and is described as 5-foot-6, with a slim build, weighing 160 pounds, possibly wearing blue shirt with a green jacket and blue jeans. He was last seen at 12:30 p.m. yesterday.

He is serving a life sentence and has ties to the Ottawa area.

 EMAIL: [email protected]

30 years of TRUSTED ‘Local Online Journalism’

SINCE MAY 20, 1994

Twitter: @muskokatoday, Facebook: mclairmont1

SUBSCRIBE for $30 by e-transferring to [email protected]

Mail cheque to MuskokaTODAY.com Box 34 Gravenhurst, Ont. P1P 1T5

And include your email address to get stories sent to your inbox