BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WBOY) — An Upshur County woman has been charged with aiding and abetting after West Virginia State Troopers say escaped inmate Denver Bennett was found inside her camper.
Elkins city officials announced that Bennett had escaped a work crew near the Mountain State Forest Festival Building and Bluegrass Park on Friday, Sept. 15. West Virginia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) records at the time said he was an inmate at the Pruntytown Correctional Center with two prior convictions: Shoplifting, 3rd offense in 2018 and felony fleeing from an officer in a vehicle in 2022.
On Tuesday, Sept. 19 the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office said Bennett was spotted near Upper Childers Run, which is off U.S. Route 33.
According to a criminal complaint, law enforcement went to a single-wide camper on Upper Childer Run Road on Thursday, Sept. 21 and made contact with 47-year-old Beverly Beckner.
A West Virginia State Trooper wrote that when asked if anyone else was inside the camper, Beckner said no, and the trooper asked her for permission to check for other people.
Beckner allegedly responded ‘Yea, but my dogs bite,’ before leashing the two dogs with a rope that was offered by the trooper, and that was outside the door of the camper.
During the search, the trooper saw “feet of a subject that were protruding from a pile of bags and other random items that had been tossed onto the bed of the master bedroom,” the complaint said.
The trooper told the subject to come out, but did not get a response, according to the complaint, leading the trooper to take a bag off the bed, and see Bennett, “attempting to hide.”
According to the complaint, the trooper once again told Bennett to come out, after which he complied and was placed under arrest.
Beckner has been charged with aiding and abetting and is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on $100,000 cash-only bail, according to DCR records.
The DCR website shows that Bennett is now being held in the Mount Olive Correctional Complex, a maximum security state prison.
