UPDATED STORY
After searching for wanted fugitive Andrew Ancell for a few hours Thursday morning near Bleakwood, Newton County Sheriff Robert Burby said during the noon hour that deputies had shifted their focus back to the far north end of the county. Burby said early Thursday morning that there had been a reported sighting of the 38-year-old at a location southwest of Bleakwood and east of Kirbyville. Burby said that information didn’t pan out and they found no evidence of Ancell ever having been there. The search is continuing in the area of Highway 87 just south of the Newton/Sabine County line, and also in the area of an abandoned house on County Road 1102 off of Recreational Road 255. Burby says tracking dogs led deputies to a spot where Ancell had been hiding out, and they found his possessions along with guns that had been reported stolen in Sabine County. Ancell is a white male with thinning blond hair and a deep receding hairline, blue eyes, 5'07", 140 pounds. If you happen to spot him, you’re asked to call 911 and report his location.
ORIGINAL STORY
The search for wanted fugitive 38-year-old Andrew Ancell has now moved to the Bleakwood area in Newton County. On Thursday morning, Sheriff Robert Burby said there had been a sighting of him, so law enforcement officers have saturated the general area of County Roads 3069 and 3071. That area is southwest of Bleakwood, and east of Kirbyville. For the past month, Ancell managed to elude capture in Sabine County despite multiple sightings of him there, and on Tuesday a manhunt ensued along Highway 87 just south of the Newton/Sabine County line after Ancell was spotted walking southbound into Newton County. Ancell is wanted in multiple counties for burglaries and thefts. Ironically, Newton County is the only county in this area that doesn’t hold arrest warrants for him. Ancell is a white male with thinning blond hair and a deep receding hairline, blue eyes, 5'07", 140 pounds. If you happen to spot him, you’re asked to call 911 and report his location.