Briefs: Prison escapee in southwestern Arizona now back in custody

SAN LUIS — A prison inmate who walked off during work duty in San Luis was taken into custody Tuesday at a hotel in south Phoenix.

Officials with the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry said Jonathan Perryman will now be housed in a high custody unit at a state prison.

They said Perryman was working Monday morning with a crew and was later unaccounted for.

He had been a minimum custody work crew member and was working at the recreation center in San Luis at the time of his escape after he reportedly walked into a restroom to wash paint off his hands.

Authorities said Perryman was sentenced in November for misconduct involving weapons and he has no history of violence or prior violent convictions.

State prison officials said Perryman awaits administrative disciplinary charges and will also be charged with criminal escape.

The U.S. Marshals Office and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel areas were among the law enforcement agencies helping in the search for Perryman.

Deaths of 2 Mesa teenage girls in January ruled accidental

MESA – The deaths of two teenage girls in January have been ruled accidental with both drowning in a water retention basin, Mesa police said Tuesday.

They announced that the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office determined 17-year-old Sitlalli Avelar and 15-year-old Kamryn Meyers drowned “in the setting of acute alcohol intoxication” with Meyers also having signs of recent marijuana use.

Officers responded to a call about a body in the water northwest of Superstition Springs Mall on Jan. 21.

Police said the bodies of Avelar and Meyers were discovered a few yards from each other.

The two girls had been staying at a Mesa group home and were believed to be runaways, according ti police who said they're still trying to determine what the girls were doing before their bodies were found.

“Right now, there is nothing to say foul play was a factor,” police said in a statement Tuesday.

Police say a body found in a west Phoenix canal; no ID yet

PHOENIX — A body was recovered from a west Phoenix canal on Tuesday, according to authorities.

Phoenix police said the body was discovered found around 7 a.m. Tuesday.

They said officers responded to an injured person call that was initially reported as a water rescue.

When they arrived, they found a body in the water.

The body has not been identified and police said details are limited at this time as officers actively investigate the incident.