Canada on alert for U.S. most-wanted man

CALGARY, Alberta, May 8 (UPI) -- Police in western Canada say an armed and dangerous U.S. fugitive was confirmed to be in the area, and could still be circulating.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police issued a statement saying Richard Lee McNair was last seen April 28 in Penticton, British Columbia, by an RCMP officer who noticed the driver of a stolen truck matched the description of a man he saw on the TV show "America's Most Wanted."

The driver fled on foot, but fingerprints on the steering wheel confirmed it was McNair, the Calgary Sun reported.

McNair escaped prison in Louisiana April 13 by hiding under a pallet of bags in a mail truck. He was serving three life sentences for murder and attempted murder after he killed one of two men who stumbled upon him in the midst of a robbery in 1987.

U.S. authorities said they don't know why McNair headed for Canada but, are working closely with the RCMP to track him down.

"He's a real con man in every sense of the word," said spokesman Dave Sacks of the U.S. Marshals service.