Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Hyde County Sheriff’s Office has reported the successful apprehension of escaped inmate Francisco Cardenas.

Cardenas, 32, was taken into custody by K-9 Sergeant Jeremy Andrews without incident at approximately 6:15 p.m. on Monday, May 5, 2025 in Swan Quarter. “Cardenas apprehension was a result of a tip provided by retired Trooper Darrell Pugh,” noted a HCSO news release. The N.C. Department of Adult Correction stated the tip “led deputies to a section of US 264 East near Swan Quarter where Cardenas was located walking along a roadside …”

Cardenas had escaped from the Hyde Correctional Center on May 1, 2025. He was serving a 5-to-8-year sentence for drug trafficking, with a projected release date in January 2029. Following his escape, a coordinated effort involving local, state and federal law enforcement agencies was initiated to locate and apprehend him, stated the release.

Sheriff Guire Cahoon expressed gratitude to all agencies involved in the search and capture, stating, “The swift and collaborative response from our law enforcement partners was instrumental in ensuring the safety of our community and bringing Mr. Cardenas back into custody.”

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COASTLAND TIMES TODAY!