Woman's past catches up 36 years after prison breakout

A fugitive who escaped from a Michigan prison 36 years ago was caught at her home in San Diego on Monday, the New York Daily News reported.

Judy Lynn Hayman, now 60, was living a quiet life under the name Jamie Lewis and even had government documents to confirm that identity, police said.

An officer compared the woman's appearance to a picture of Hayman from the 1970s.

"The eyes gave her away. There was something about the eyes that were very distinctive and matched," Lt. Kevin Mayer told the Daily News.

Judy Lynn Hayman was arrested in 1976 for larceny, convicted and sentenced to as long as two years in prison.

Police determined that she was the woman who escaped from the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, Mich., on April 14, 1977, reported U-T San Diego.

"There were inconsistencies in her story," Mayer said. "She wound up confessing."

In June 1976, Hayman pleaded guilty to attempted larceny and was sentenced to between 16 months and two years behind bars, according to Michigan prison records.

After the alleged escape, Hayman is thought to have adopted several aliases, including Brenda Bushmer and Judy Singleton, according to U-T San Diego.

An investigation by authorities in Michigan led them to suspect that Hayman was in San Diego so they contacted local law enforcement with details of her possible whereabouts.

Hayman's son, 32, was visiting his mother when the long arms of the law finally caught up with her on Monday. Mayer said his mother's past was "a complete surprise to him."

Police could not say how long she had been at her most recent home.

Hayman is being held in Las Colinas jail without bail and awaiting extradition, Mayer said.