ICYMI: Game Ends for Prison Escapee 56 Years Later

A lengthy and colorful life on the lam came to an end for one of Ohio’s “most wanted” fugitives Monday courtesy of the U.S. Marshals Serviceand Brevard County deputies.

“William Harold Cox,” 79, lived an unassuming life at 1200 Jones Road in Melbourne. The 79-year-old resided in a mobile home and sported a white ponytail, glasses and beard. His image was a far cry from the clean-shaven young man incarcerated in Ohio back in 1957 on voluntary manslaughter charges. Even so, members of the “Gameover Task Force” knew there was more to Cox than met the eye.

After the new U.S. Marshals Cold Case Unit received a request from the Ohio Adult Parole Authority to help find one of the state’s longest-standing fugitives, marshals set out to locate Frank Freshwaters. Following a lengthy investigation, Freshwaters was tracked to Florida where authorities quickly realized the wanted man and “William Cox” were one in the same.

Freshwaters’ story of life on the run began back on July 3, 1957, when the Akron man was behind the wheel of a vehicle that struck and killed a pedestrian. Freshwaters ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and received a prison sentence of 1-20 years, a media release from the U.S. Marshal’s service states. The original sentence was suspended and Freshwaters was ordered to serve probation for five years.

That reprieve, however, didn’t last.

On Feb. 19, 1959, he was found guilty of violating probation and was sentenced to serve time in Mansfield’s Ohio State Reformatory – also known as “Shawshank Prison.” A model prisoner, Freshwaters quickly earned trust from officials and was transferred to Sandusky Honor Farm to finish out the remainder of his sentence.

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Freshwaters, the release says, was having none of it. On Sept. 30, 1959, he escaped the farm and left Ohio behind for good – or so he thought. He did manage quite a long streak of living on the lam until authorities caught up with him in October 1975. Freshwaters was arrested in West Virginia on the outstanding Ohio warrant. West Virginia’s governor at the time, however, refused to extradite the man back to Ohio – setting Freshwaters free once more.

Freshwaters, the release says, wasted no time in going back into hiding. He didn’t surface again until marshals in Florida made the connection between the white-haired old man people knew as Mr. Cox and the fugitive that fled Ohio 56 years ago.

When approached by authorities at his mobile home Monday, “Cox” admitted that he was indeed Freshwaters, marshals noted.

“This was one of our oldest cases that many believed to be impossible to solve,” Ohio Adult Parole regional director Todd Ishee was quoted in the release as saying.

He has a warning for other long-term fugitives who believe the long arm of the law won’t catch up with them.

“With this new Cold Case Unit at work, we are reopening many old fugitive files with the hope that we will continue to have the success that we have seen in these last few months,” he said.

Freshwaters is currently being held in the Brevard County Jail without bond, awaiting extradition back to Ohio.

Local authorities say they are pleased to have been a part of the capture and are also looking forward to more successes in closing the books on old cases.

“Another great job by the members of our GAMEOVER Task Force and our partnership with the U.S. Marshals,” Sheriff Wayne Ivey wrote on his agency’s Facebook page.

Photo courtesy of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page

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