LJWorld.com

A prison volunteer and a convicted murderer were caught Friday night in Tennessee, Kansas prison officials said.

Toby Young, who ran the Safe Harbor Prison Dog program at Lansing Correctional Facility, and John Manard were captured about 8:40 p.m. by local, state and federal law enforcement authorities on Interstate 75 between Chattanooga and Knoxville after a brief vehicle chase.

Minor injuries were reported during the capture. Toby Young was taken to a local hospital as a precautionary measure.

"It's great news," Kansas Corrections Department spokesman Bill Miskell said. "Obviously, this is the outcome we were hoping for.

"I think there has always been a concern that anyone in the company of John Manard would be in danger. I don't think that has ever been far from anyone's mind."

Young is charged with helping Manard, 27, escape Feb. 12 in a van used by the dog rescue program.

Prison officials have said guards' familiarity with Young, 48, helped her pull off the escape.

After the escape, seven inmates apparently involved in moving the crate were placed in administrative segregation, confined to their cells for all but one hour most days.

Manard was taken by U.S. marshals to a facility in Chattanooga, while Young was taken to nearby Cleveland, The Daily Post-Athenian newspaper reported, where they will await extradition to Kansas.

Manard was first spotted Friday at a bookstore in Chattanooga driving a 1997 Chevy pickup truck, authorities told the newspaper.

Officers then followed Manard for almost 60 miles northeast on Interstate 75 toward Knoxville.

"He made an effort to run me off the road, and we called in the dogs," said Tony Crawford, a chief deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service. "We knew we had the right man then."

Manard reached Loudon County, just southeast of Knoxville, before he turned around and eventually crashed his vehicle while trying to cross a wooded median in north McMinn County.

Manard's escape has captured national media attention, and he was recently featured on "America's Most Wanted."

Authorities have said the daring escape was carefully planned, that the two had more than $10,000 in cash and two semiautomatic weapons, and that they bought hair coloring and an electric razor that may have been used to alter appearances.

Young's van was found Feb. 14 at a Bonner Springs storage facility she had rented, 10 miles south of the prison.

Young is married to a firefighter and has children, but authorities think her family was not aware of her plans. Calls to the homes of Toby Young and her parents were not returned Friday night.

Last week, her father, James Phalen, pleaded with her to come home.

"As a family we have discussed these matters, and we just simply don't have any idea why or how this happened," he said. "We simply don't have any answers.

"But most importantly, we want Toby to know that we're her family, we love her, we miss you, we want you to come home safely. So Toby, if you hear this, please, please come home."

The Safe Harbor Prison Dog Program saved dogs from death at animal shelters by having inmates train them to make them suitable for adoption. Manard was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and possession of firearms in the 1996 killing of an Overland Park man during a carjacking. He now will face additional charges of aggravated escape from custody.

Manard and Young will be held in a jail in Tennessee until they are extradited to Kansas.

Miskell said he had few additional details. A news conference was planned for 10:30 a.m. today in Lansing.