Why fugitives should not flee to Mexico to escape the law

Fugitives running south of the border to flee the long arm of the law has oft been a successful plot device in movies, but in reality, it might not work out so well — especially for the Reed brothers.

Related: Reed brothers charged with murder while possibly on the run to Mexico

John and Tony Reed are currently on the run from police and suspected of killing an Arlington couple earlier this month. The Reed’s had police following their trail all the way to the Mexico-California border. It is believed that they have crossed into Mexico. But their fate may be less like Andy and Red (“Shawshank Redemption”) and more like another film of fleeing fugitives.

“This whole thing reminds me of the end of ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” KIRO Radio’s John Curley said. “They load up their six-shooters and Paul Newman looks out and says there might be three or four (police). They are going to shoot their way out of it. And there were hundreds of them there. They come out from around the corner of the building and that’s the end of the movie.

“If history and statistics hold up, there is a pretty good chance (the Reed brothers) will not get away,” Curley added.

The Seattle Times reports that a team of fugitive-tracking agents in Mexico are well aware of the Reed brothers and are on their trail. Rodolfo Luna, who leads the team, told the Times that he is confident the brothers will be found in a matter of days:

“We have a lot of people looking for them. I think it’s only going to be a few days to locate these guys.

Luna’s team has captured nearly 1,000 fugitives since 2003. They handle about three per week.

“Mexican agents are pretty sure they are going to be caught and relatively quickly,” said co-host Tom Tangney. On average, the Mexican and United States governments combine to catch about 341 fugitives a year.

“It’s really hard for non-Hispanics, like the Reeds are who probably don’t speak Spanish, to hide very successfully,” Tangney said. “The reason most American fugitives go to Mexico is because it’s easy entry and obviously it’s right next door, but it’s really not an easy place to hide. Their hunch is that they will have these guys sooner than later.”

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