Northern border fortified in search for Ariz. Escapee

Border agents stopped vehicles leaving the

U. S. and police beefed up their patrols in the small towns near Glacier National Park as author i t ies focused thei r search for an escaped convict and his suspected accomplice on both sides of the Montana- Canada border.

Despite the tightened security, there are many backroads and other ways for A r i z o n a e s c a p e e J o h n McCluskey and his suspected accomplice, Casslyn Welch, to slip across the border and into Cana d a , Gl a c i e r Co unt y Undersheri f f Jef f Fauque said.

"There are no border sensors, no border patrolmen or (Royal Canadian Mounted Pol ice) of f icers around, " Fauque said. "It's definitely possible for somebody to enter Canada undetected."

Authorities at Montana border crossings have started checking cars headed into Canada, scanning the faces of the occupants to see whether they match the description of the fugitives, who apparently have dyed their hair to try to disguise themselves.

"We' re doing outbound checks at ports of entry to ensure any fugitive is unable to ut i l i ze that avenue of escape," U.S. Customs and Border Patrol spokesman Mike Milne said late Tuesday.

A U.S. Border Patrol helicopter joined the search Tuesday, but authorities on both s ides of the border acknowledged it was impossible to completely secure it.

Glac i e r Nat ional Par k abuts the Canadian border in rugged terrain, but the border t o t h e e a s t , a l o n g t h e Blackfeet Indian Reservation, is fairly flat. Fauque said there are several small roads that cross the border.

S g t . Pa t r i c k We b b, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in C a l g a r y, Al b e r t a , s a i d Wedne sday morning that Mounties do not believe the pair has entered Canada.

"We've got no physical evidence or sightings to confirm that they're here," Webb said.

Fidencio Rivera, chief deputy

U. S. marshal for the Arizona district , told The Associated Press Wednesday the two apparent ly have changed their appearance.

"Welch has dyed her hair blond, McCluskey has dyed his hair black," Rivera said.

The information was developed through interviews with people who last saw the couple, Rivera said.

The last confirmed sighting of McCluskey and Welch t o ge t h e r wa s Fr i d ay i n Billings, and that wasn't confirmed until Monday.

U. S. marshals said there have been reports that Welch was spotted Sunday at a restaurant in St. Mary east Gl a c i e r Na t i o n a l Pa r k .

Montana's acting marshal, Rod Ostermiller, said there were multiple other tips from the Glacier area, but he didn't say whether any included sightings of McCluskey.

Ten mi les north of St .

Mary, residents of Babb have been frightened by the presence of police cars patrolling the streets. The town of 700 normally sees a patrol car every other week, said Tedi Burns, a bartender at the Babb Bar Cattle Baron Supper Club.

"This is a small town and nobody can find them," said Burns, 19. "They could be hiding in the woods. We have mountains around us. We have a bunch of backwoods they could be hiding around."

Ano the r pr i s one r who escaped with McCluskey was due in a Glenwood Springs, Colo., courtroom this morning.

Daniel Renwick, who was serving a 22-year sentence for second-degree murder, was captured Aug. 1 in western Colorado.

A day earlier, the third escapee, Tracy Province, appeared in a Cody, Wyo., court and waived his right to fight extradition to Arizona.

Province was caught Monday a s he wa l ke d in s l e e py Meeteetse, Wyo., steps away from a church where he sat in the pews a day earlier and sang "Your Grace Is Enough."