ROCKY FORD, Colo. — A prisoner who was one of four inmates who escaped from the Bent County Jail last month was found dead in Otero County Saturday.
The body of Mark Fox, 46, was located inside an unoccupied farmhouse near Colorado Hwy 71 and Hwy 10, approximately 5 miles south of Rocky Ford, according to a U.S. Marshals press release.
The Otero County Sheriff’s Office received a call Saturday afternoon around 4:00 p.m. from a former resident of the property who had returned to retrieve some property and discovered the body inside, the release read.
Fox and three other inmates escaped from the Bent County Jail on July 25 after pushing through the sheet rock ceiling in their cell, which used to serve as a kitchen. From there, the inmates escaped through the roof of an adjoining bathroom, according to the U.S. Marshals.
An FBI forensic specialist was brought in and obtained post-mortem fingerprints to identify the body due to the state of decomposition it was in.
The cause of death is undetermined pending results of toxicology, the agency stated in the release. It is believed Fox had been deceased for approximately 2-3 weeks upon discovery. No obvious signs of foul play are apparent at this time.
Fox was recently sentenced to two consecutive 32-year prison terms for assault and fraud, according to the U.S. Marshals.
The other three inmates were located. One of the escaped inmates, Benjamin Valdez, was found dead in Pueblo due to a possible drug overdose, according to the Bent County Sheriff's Office.
