Orange City, Iowa — A southern Iowa man who escaped from the Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) in Sheldon in early 2014 is back in custody and may face additional time for escape.
According to Maureen Hansen, Manager of the RTF, 34-year-old Tracy Anthony Bowers was convicted of manufacturing or delivering drugs in Lee County, Iowa in 2008. Court records indicate Bowers was sentenced to a ten-year prison sentence at the Oakdale Medical and Classification Center near Iowa City.
Hansen says as part of a transition back to life outside of prison, he was moved to the RTF in Sheldon in November, 2013. About two months later, on Wednesday, January 29, 2014, he escaped from the RTF, and has remained at large until recently.
According to Hansen, Bowers was apprehended last week Tuesday, October 11th in Minnesota. Sioux County Jail records indicate they received Bowers on Friday, October 14th, from the Olmsted County Jail in Rochester, Minnesota.
Hansen says Bowers work release status has been revoked and upon conclusion of the escape case, he will be returning to prison. He faces a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, October 25th in Sioux County District Court in Orange City on the escape charge.
We did ask Hansen why, since the initial crime was committed and the case was tried in southern Iowa, Bowers was placed at the RTF in Sheldon. She says that in order to be placed away from the area, offenders have to have some sort of family or job connection in the new area.
