Escaped Convict Caught

A Kansas inmate who walked away from his work release assignment last week has been caught in Oklahoma, and state corrections officials are trying to figure out how got there.

Chad Alan Leichhardt was reported missing Friday afternoon from a Newton fabrication plant where he worked. The 39-year-old Hutchinson Correctional Facility inmate was taken into custody early Sunday morning in Perry, Okla., where he was awaiting extradition back to Kansas.

Kansas Department of Corrections spokesman Jeremy Barclay says investigators are looking for information about how Leichhardt got to Oklahoma and what he did while he was missing.

Leichhardt is serving time for convictions in Sedgwick and Sumner counties for drunken driving, aggravated burglary and assorted other charges. He was scheduled to be released in February.