--- title: Police Arrest Man on the Run from Prison Since the 1980s description: James Edward Coe, 71, escaped from a North Carolina prison in 1986 canonical: https://time.com/4163181/police-arrest-man-on-the-run-since-the-1980s/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-29T16:15:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:40:42.574Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Police Arrest Man on the Run from Prison Since the 1980s og:description: James Edward Coe, 71, escaped from a North Carolina prison in 1986 og:url: https://time.com/4163181/police-arrest-man-on-the-run-since-the-1980s/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Police Arrest Man on the Run from Prison Since the 1980s twitter:description: James Edward Coe, 71, escaped from a North Carolina prison in 1986 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Police Arrest Man on the Run Since the 1980s by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 29, 2015 4:15 PM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 29, 2015 4:15 PM CUT Police in South Carolina arrested a man who had been on the run since he escaped prison in 1986. James Edward Coe, 71, was convicted of receiving stolen goods in 1984, but two years later he escaped from a North Carolina prison, according to the [_Associated Press_](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-man-lam-1986-caught-south-carolina-35990648 "undefined"). His release date had been set for 1989\. When Coe was arrested in Surfside, S.C. on Sunday for stealing jewelry at a flea market, authorities discovered he had been a fugitive for decades. According to a local [news report](http://www.wyff4.com/news/police-man-on-the-run-since-1986-caught-in-south-carolina/37173836 "undefined"), Coe did not have a state ID when he was arrested, but the information he provided to authorities led to their discovery. Coe will be extradited to North Carolina. \[[AP](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-man-lam-1986-caught-south-carolina-35990648 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4163181/police-arrest-man-on-the-run-since-the-1980s/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4163181/police-arrest-man-on-the-run-since-the-1980s/"},"headline":"Police Arrest Man on the Run Since the 1980s","datePublished":"2015-12-29T16:15:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:40:42.574Z","description":"James Edward Coe, 71, escaped from a North Carolina prison in 1986","url":"https://time.com/4163181/police-arrest-man-on-the-run-since-the-1980s/","keywords":["Crime","News","theft","Prison","North Carolina","justice"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4163181/police-arrest-man-on-the-run-since-the-1980s/","name":"Police Arrest Man on the Run Since the 1980s"}}]}] ```