Search continues for prisoner who escaped near Spencer

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SPENCER – Authorities continue to search the Spencer, S.D., area for a prisoner who escaped Saturday from a transport van at a fuel stop at Exit 353 on Interstate 90.

Oscar Antonio Herrera-Menjivar, 31, was one of 13 prisoners being taken to a Nebraska facility by a private prison-transport van. The van stopped at a fuel station about 2 a.m., and Herrera-Menjivar managed to escape and fled south-southeast.

He is 5-feet 5, 140 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes. He may be wearing a prison orange shirt, or he may be wearing a blue T-shirt, shorts and black running shoes, authorities say. He is a native of Mexico whose last known address was Florida.

Officials said late Saturday afternoon they have nothing new to report, but Highway Patrol units and other law enforcement agencies remain alert to any new information or leads.

South Dakota Highway Patrol officials encourage the public not to pick up hitchhiker in the area and to report any suspicious activity. They also advise that the escapee should be considered dangerous.

Initial information indicates he was originally charged with sexual assault of a minor and was being transported from Florida to Nebraska. The private company picked up other prisoners in a route that took the van into Wyoming. The van was returning east on I-90.

Authorities began the search about 3 a.m.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, McCook County Sheriff's Office and Hanson County Sheriff's Office are involved in the search.

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