Columbia, S.C. ? Two violent felons who escaped from a maximum-security prison by hiding on a trash truck were captured early Thursday afternoon, a State Law Enforcement Division official said.

Jimmy Causey, 35, a convicted kidnapper, and Johnny Brewer, 39, a convicted murderer, had been on the loose since Tuesday, when they escaped from the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia.

They were apprehended at a motel along busy Interstate 95 in Ridgeland, about 110 miles south of Columbia, SLED Chief Robert Stewart said.

Pat Smith, a maid at the Palms Motel, said Causey told the clerk when he checked in that his identification was in his car, and that the car had been towed.

“He was real friendly,” she said. “When they got (Brewer) in the cuffs, (Causey) said, ‘Can I get my money back?’ He said, ‘Can I get a refund?'” Smith hadn’t seen Brewer before his arrest, she said.

Stewart would not immediately release details of the capture but said the men were being transported back to Columbia.

The pair had been seen Tuesday after their escape in a car authorities allege was driven by Ashley Bostic, 23, of Hopkins. Richland County authorities charged Bostic on Thursday with harboring an escaped convict.

According to arrest warrants, Bostic confessed to driving Causey and Brewer to Ridgeland to help them get away. The car was recovered Tuesday night in Orangeburg County, between Columbia and Ridgeland.

Causey and Brewer, who hadn’t had serious disciplinary problems before their escape, were involved in cleaning up and feeding other inmates at the prison when they disappeared Tuesday morning, corrections officials have said.

Trash is supposed to be compacted before leaving the prison. “If that didn’t happen, we are going to determine why,” prisons director Jon Ozmint said Tuesday.