THE US FUGITIVE who broke out of an Arizona prison with two fellow inmates has finally been captured after a three-week manhunt.

John McCluskey, 45, was on the run with his cousin and fiancée Casslyn Welch, 44, were tracked by authorities across six states before being tracked down to a camp site in eastern Arizona.

A ranger became suspicious when he discovered a car parked in the state park near an unattended fire.

A SWAT team surrounded McCluskey and Welch, and took them into custody. McCluskey told authorities he wished he had killed the forest ranger when he had the chance.

The couple, who were regarded as “Americda’s Most Wanted”, are suspected of murdering two people, whose burned bodies were discovered in a trailer on a ranch in New Mexico on 4 August.

Welch is accused of assisting McCluskey and two other inmates in their prison escape on 30 July.

[caption id="attachment_13435" align="alignnone" width="497" caption="In this image provided by the US Marshals Service Casslyn Welch is shown being taken into custody. (AP Photo/U.S. Marshals Office)"][/caption]

The escape has brought the prison’s security procedures into question, but records show that the prison’s security passed official checks.

The other two inmates were re-captured within days of the escape.

McCluskey’s stepfather made a television appeal asking him to turn himself in, but threatening to shoot him if he should return home.

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