Murder suspect and drug-charge inmate escape from Kansas jail, sheriff says

A murder suspect and an inmate incarcerated on a drug charge have escaped from a southeast Kansas jail, the local sheriff said.

Mark Gerald Hopkins II and Michael Wayne Martsolf escaped from the Cherokee County jail in Columbus at around 11 p.m. Monday, the sheriff’s office said in a special bulletin. The men “are to be considered armed and dangerous.”

Anyone with information on their location is asked to use extreme caution and call 911 or the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office at 620-429-3992. A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to their capture.

Hopkins, 30, was being held for trial on a charge of capital murder in a double homicide case. Martsolf, 34, was incarcerated for drug-related crimes.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Marshal’s Service are assisting in the search.

On Thursday, investigators arrested a Weir woman suspected of assisting Hopkins and Martsolf.

Cherokee County detectives arrested 26 year-old Tasha Taylor, following the execution of a search warrant at her home, the sheriff’s office announced. She was booked on allegations of conspiracy to commit aggravated escape, felony aiding a fugitive and obstructing justice.

Investigators previously announced that they had found a 2008 white Honda Accord that may have been the escape vehicle.

This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 3:24 PM.