| By Drew Moody
For the Hur Herald
Federal prison officials called the Best Western Glenville
Inn shortly after midnight on August 29, asking about a car belonging to an escapee's girlfriend's car, and inquiring if she was there.
She was.
Apparently federal inmate Harvey Brewer had missed the midnight head
count, one of five-a-day checks they hold on weekends and holidays.
However, a call reporting the escape to local authorities didn't come
until about 30 minutes later, according to Gilmer County law
enforcement.
It was enough time for the escapee to return to FCI-Gilmer
where he was apprehended, apparently attempting to sneak back into
an unfenced "camp" portion of the facility.
The woman was apprehended about the same time on Duck
Run by Deputy M.J. Wheeler of the Gilmer County Sheriff's
Department. TFC R.P. Smith of the WV State Police also
responded to the call.
Dep. Wheeler was told to question the Baltimore woman, gather evidence
and release her without charges, as the FBI would be taking the
lead investigative role.
She apparently told Deputy Wheeler she was looking for a convenience store
and was misguided by her GPS unit, explaining why she was up Duck Run
in the wee hours of the morning.
She did eventually acknowledge knowing the
suspect.
More than a month later, as far as local police know, the investigation
is at a standstill.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUND
The woman and "her boyfriend" had been seen at the Best Western
several times previously, according to witnesses at the hotel, Deputy
Wheeler said.
Hotel employees told Wheeler the woman's visitor(s) only stayed for short
periods of time. And all were apparently captured on the Best Western in-house
video taping system.
Local authorities are concerned that other escapes have gone unnoticed or unreported.
Did someone at FCI-Gilmer warn Harvey Brewer that he'd missed a
head-count, or that local authorities would be notified, giving him time
to attempt re-entry into the federal facility?
Why was there a 30-minute delay in notifying local authorities of the
escape?
"They let him come back," Deputy Wheeler observed, since no FCI-Gilmer officers
went to the hotel to take Brewer back into custody.
Did Harvey Brewer, or others, make a practice of going back and forth
to the Best Western Glenville Inn to see family members, girlfriends
or to pick up contraband.
Deputy Wheeler said he and other law enforcement officers found contraband
on numerous occasions at an abandoned house near FCI-Gilmer.
WALK-AWAY ESCAPES
Until a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, walk-away escapes, or failing to
report to a federal facility were considered acts of violence by law
enforcement
and the courts.
A U.S. Sentencing Commission study found in examining more than 100 walk-away
escapes none had resulted in violence.
Violent or not, walking away from a federal facility, even one without
a fenced parameter, is still considered an escape.
And the inmate in question, Harvey Brewer, apparently had a violent
past, according
to the deputy.
"He was in a hotel full of patrons," Brewer said. "If this guy had had
ill intent he
could have had multiple hostages."
Meanwhile, local officials anxiously await news of the FBI investigation.
Gilmer County Sheriff Mickey Metz said if the feds didn't pursue charges
against the Baltimore woman, he intends to work with the county
prosecutor to have
her charged here.
More than 100 federal inmates are part of the unfenced "camp" area of
FCI-Gilmer.
Another 1,800 inmates are in the minimum-to-medium security fenced area. | 
