The search for an escaped Arizona inmate and his alleged accomplice led authorities to northwest Arkansas for several hours Wednesday as they followed a tip that the pair was involved in an armed robbery there.

But by late afternoon, the manhunt was concentrated again in northwest Montana near the Canadian border as local officials in Arkansas were convinced that John McCluskey, 45, and Casslyn Welch, 44, were not involved in the armed robbery of a hair salon in Gentry on Wednesday morning.

Benton County Sheriff's Office spokesman Doug Gay said photographs and descriptions of the suspects give authorities in Gentry "no reason to believe these are those individuals."

Federal investigators would say only that there were "conflicting sightings" of McCluskey and Welch and that agents were continuing to follow the Arkansas lead as well as others. Still, the Arkansas tip - valid or not - did not detract from efforts to search for the couple near the Canadian border, an official with the U.S. Marshals Service said.

"It did not affect our operations anywhere at all," said Rich Tracy. "We simply expanded - we did not divert any resources."

News of the couple's alleged Arkansas sighting came hours after investigators released updated photos of McCluskey and Welch indicating the pair had changed their appearances, with Welch lightening her hair and McCluskey dying his hair dark and growing facial hair.

McCluskey, serving 15 years for attempted murder, broke out of a privately run prison near Kingman on July 30 with convicted murderers Daniel Renwick and Tracy Province.

Authorities believe Welch, a woman described as both McCluskey's fiancée and cousin, tossed cutting tools into the prison's yard and assisted the men with their escape.

Investigators have made four arrests so far.

Renwick, 36, was arrested two days after the escape in western Colorado after exchanging gunfire with police, who spotted him in the town of Rifle. He was charged Wednesday with three counts of attempted murder and will likely serve time in Colorado before returning to Arizona to finish his murder sentence, plus additional time for the escape.

Province, 42, was arrested Monday after a churchgoer spoke with him in a small Wyoming town and later recognized the fugitive when she saw his picture on TV.

McCluskey's mother and ex-wife were arrested in Arizona within the past few days, accused of helping the fugitives move through the state before fleeing Arizona.

McCluskey, Welch and Province were also named as the "sole suspects" in the slaying of a 61-year-old couple in New Mexico.

A rancher last Wednesday found the charred bodies of Gary and Linda Haas of Oklahoma in their burned camper. The couple's truck was discovered 100 miles away in Albuquerque that same afternoon. Investigators said earlier this week that forensic evidence linked McCluskey to the crime.

The Haas' killing kicked a nationwide manhunt into overdrive, and investigators expressed concerns this week that McCluskey and Welch would prefer to meet a violent end rather than peaceably surrender.

As such, all tips- even those that place the fugitive couple thousands of miles away from their presumed location- are investigated thoroughly, said Tracy of the Marshal's Service.

When cases receive the kind of national publicity networks have given to the manhunt, they generate more of what investigators consider "ghost leads."

The media coverage helped investigators capture Province in a small Wyoming town.

Tips have also come into the manhunt's command center placing the fugitives buying a car in Goodyear and robbing a hair salon in northwest Arkansas, which proved fruitless.

"We eventually follow up on every lead that we get. There is a process where we prioritize them, based on information that we've learned, based on information that's probable, possible," Tracy said. "Ultimately we prioritize them and investigate all of them."

The Arkansas tip resonated because Welch has family members in the area, though a sheriff's official in Arkansas said Welch's relative no longer lived there.

Agents from the U.S. Marshal's Office in Fort Smith, Ark., were immediately dispatched to the scene.

But even an hour after the armed robbery occurred, David Gonzales, U.S. marshal for Arizona, cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

"This is a lead that looks very good," Gonzales said Wednesday morning. "But keep in mind that every major crime that has occurred in the United States in the last 10 days has been attributed to them."



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/11/20100811arizona-prison-escapees-change-canada-border11-ON.html#ixzz0wMXHPzxH