Metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta

On the loose for nearly 50 years, Georgia prison escapee recaptured

By Steve Burns
May 10, 2016

Paul McCartney was in The Beatles and the United States was in Vietnam when Robert Stackowitz escaped from the Carroll County Correctional Institution in Georgia on Aug. 22, 1968.

Monday morning — nearly 48 years after that escape — U.S. Marshals arrested Stackowitz in Sherman, Conn., the Georgia Department of Corrections said.

Apparently, Stackowitz applied for Social Security under his real name, and that’s what gave him away, according to ABC News. His alias, Robert Gordon, did not have a proper credit history, the network reported.

His application for Social Security prompted the U.S. Marshals Service to review the case. Authorities found an address in Sherman, Conn., linked to his alias, ABC News reported.

When he escaped, Stackowitz, now 71, was serving a 17-year prison term for robbery by force after he was convicted in Henry County.

He is awaiting extradition to Georgia.

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