Full Notification

A man convicted of four 1993 murders has escaped from the Ionia Michigan Correctional Facility. Michael David Elliot, age 40, 5’8”, 165 lb white male with brown hair and brown eyes wearing a blue and orange state prison uniform escaped Sunday night.
Elliot forced his way into a Red 2004 Jeep Liberty with Michigan License Plate “5FTG55” sitting outside a residence on in Ionia, MI being driven by a female at approximately 8:00 pm. Mr. Elliot was armed with a hammer and a box cutter knife and threatened to cut the female.

They traveled into the Middlebury, IN area where they stopped at a Gallop’s gas station on State Rd 13 to get fuel. The female who had a cell phone hidden from Elliot, called 911 while he was pumping gas and the call was received by LaGrange County 911 Dispatchers. Dispatchers quickly asked the female to go inside the gas station to get away from the suspect. When the caller got inside the dispatcher asked her to lock herself in the restroom and not leave.

At one point Michael Elliot knocked on the restroom door and told the female that it was time to go. 911 Dispatchers were able to locate the gas station they were at using GPS from the cell phone along with the description that the caller was able to give. The other LaGrange County Dispatcher contacted Elkhart County right away to have officers en route.

The Dispatcher kept the victim on the phone until officers arrived while her partner kept Elkhart County informed. 911 Dispatcher’s while on the phone with the victim were able to locate the news on the escapee from Ionia, MI.

The victim advised the Dispatcher that Michael Elliot had put on a pair of the victim’s black cargo pants and also had a jacket on. Elliot had short hair and facial hair. Elliot advised the female that he was in prison for 4 counts of murder.

The female stated that Michael Elliot had the keys to her Red Jeep Liberty and he stated that he wanted to get far away from Ionia, MI. The stop in Middlebury was their first stop since they left Ionia, MI. Once officers arrived on scene, 911 Dispatcher’s confirmed this through Elkhart County before the female opened the door. Once this was confirmed, the female opened the door to find the police officers on scene and her Jeep Liberty was gone.

Michael Elliot was last seen on State Rd 13 just south of the Michigan State line.

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If located, please do not approach, contact 911 immediately. Michael Elliot should be considered armed and dangerous. Again, he was in prison for the murder of four people.