By Rhonda Cook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA, Ga. — Former DeKalb County sheriff’s deputy and now fugitive murder suspect Derrick Yancey escaped Atlanta on a westbound Greyhound bus and then vanished somewhere between Phoenix and Los Angeles, Sheriff Thomas Brown said Thursday.
Yancey, who worked in the DeKalb County Jail until a year ago, is accused of shooting his 44-year-old wife and a day laborer. At the time, Yancey claimed he shot 20-year-old Marcial Cax-Puluc after the Guatemalan immigrant shot and killed Yancey’s wife, Linda, during an attempted robbery at their home.
His story fell apart and Yancey was charged with two counts of murder. He was released on $150,000 bond and ordered to wear an ankle bracelet monitor.
Police say Yancey removed that ankle bracelet at 5:41 a.m. April 4 and left his mother’s Clayton County house.
A series of bus station surveillance cameras began picking up Yancey about two hours later, even though authorities had yet to discover he had fled.
The first image recorded Yancey, using the name “David Brown,” at the Atlanta bus station at 7:10 a.m. buying a ticket to the West Coast. Other bus station cameras tracked Yancey to Dallas, to Amarillo, Texas, and then to Phoenix, where he transferred to a 12:40 p.m. Greyhound to Los Angeles.
Yancey was not seen after that because the four stops on the route to Los Angeles did not have cameras, Brown said.
The Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force suspects Yancey might have headed into Mexico, considering he’s fluent in Spanish.
“It’s easy to get from Mexico to America, so I assume it’s just as easy to get from America to Mexico,” Brown said.
A $10,000 reward is being offered for his capture and the television show “America’s Most Wanted” (9 p.m. Saturdays on Fox) will broadcast an unscheduled segment to dispense information nationwide that Yancey is on the lam.
“He had a good 12-, 13-hour jump on us,” said Brown, noting that the monitoring company waited 11 hours on April 4 to alert authorities.
He also had money, Brown said. Yancey cashed out his $18,000 pension.
The sheriff said family members also might have helped Yancey get away and, if they did, they will be charged.
Investigators suspect Yancey may have altered his appearance by either growing a full beard, growing his hair longer or possibly shaving his head.
The video from the Atlanta bus station showed him with a new mustache, longer hair and the beginnings of a beard.
“He’s dramatically changed his appearance,” Brown said. “It’s clear at this point he took a great deal of time to plan. I’m confident we’re going to catch him. I just don’t know if it will be in 2009, 2010 or 2011.”
Most likely, the sheriff said, Yancey will be captured during a traffic stop.
Copyright 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution