Fugitive Captured in Hendricks County

He was booked into the Hendricks County Jail Wednesday and is being held on a U.S. Marshals hold.

A middle-aged man with a beard wearing an orange prison uniform, standing against a gray wall. — Source: Roger Austin/Hendricks County Jail / Roger Austin/Hendricks County Jail

HENDRICKS COUNTY, Ind — A man who escaped from a minimum-security federal prison camp in West Virginia nearly two years ago is back behind bars after deputies caught him during a traffic stop in Hendricks County.

The Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office arrested 53-year-old Roger Austin late Tuesday night. He was booked into the Hendricks County Jail Wednesday and is being held on a U.S. Marshals hold.

Austin had been on the run since October 2024, when officials discovered he was missing from a federal satellite camp near U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia.

He was serving a more than 21-year federal sentence after being convicted in Michigan of firearms and drug trafficking charges.

Austin now faces additional charges in Hendricks County, including unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, methamphetamine possession, theft and identity deception.

The U.S. Marshals Service and other agencies were notified after his escape, and an investigation was launched.