Man wanted in Michigan cold case murder captured after he escapes from custody in Montana

SANDERS COUNTY, Mont. (TCD) -- Authorities captured a man who escaped from custody at a gas station while he was being transported back to Michigan to face murder charges.

On June 30, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office announced 42-year-old Chadwick Shane Mobley was arrested in Lincoln County, Montana, on several charges in connection with the 2011 death of Andrea Eilber. She was fatally shot in the head at a relative’s home in Lapeer, Michigan. Investigators tested DNA evidence at the scene following her death, but those did not yield results. They tested it again in 2022, which allegedly linked Mobley to the crime.

He is being charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, and felony firearm.

On July 9, a transport set up by the U.S. Marshals was driving Mobley from Montana back to Michigan when they stopped at a Plains Town Pump gas station just before 10 a.m. The Sanders County Sheriff’s Office said Mobley managed to get out of his handcuffs and ankle shackles and flee the area. The Sanders County Sheriff’s Office advised residents in the area to lock their doors and cars and to be on the lookout for Mobley.

Mobley was located and apprehended at 6:08 p.m. on July 10 by the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office and the Plains Police Department. The Sanders County Sheriff’s Office said they are working with officials in Michigan to transport him back and will not be working with a third-party service.

Mobley’s capture coincides with the search for Michael Burham, an inmate who escaped from the Warren County Prison in Pennsylvania. He was reportedly in custody on arson and burglary charges but is also a suspect in a homicide. Additionally, he allegedly carjacked and kidnapped a couple "while trying to escape capture." The Warren Police Department described him as "very dangerous."

The Erie Times-News reports Burham escaped by climbing onto the prison roof via a pull-up machine in the prison yard, then using sheets he tied together to slide down the prison walls. Officials said Burham is a "self-taught survivalist with military training."

According to The Associated Press, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens noted, "We have located small stockpiles or campsites in wooded areas in the general vicinity of Warren, and we believe that at least some of those may be associated with Burham."

Those "stockpiles" reportedly contained "supplies that would assist him with a prolonged stay in a wooded area."

Bivens believes Burham is "getting some assistance" in his escape.

MORE:

• Defendant Apprehended in 2011 Homicide - Michigan Attorney General's Office
• Incident taking place in the Plains area - Sanders County Sheriff's Office
• In Custody - Sanders County Sheriff's Office
• Extensive searches of the area are still being conducted and a thorough investigation is ongoing. - Warren Police Department
• Search for escapee and 'survivalist' Michael Burham stretches into 5th day. What we know - Erie Times-News
• Pennsylvania police searching for escaped homicide suspect find possible campsites near jail - The Associated Press