Presidential Assailant Fromme Apparently Escapes From Prison

Associated Press

ALDERSON, W.Va. -- Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a life sentence for the attempted assassination of then-President Gerald Ford in 1975, apparently escaped last night from the Alderson Federal Prison for Women, officials said.

Fromme, 38, was discovered missing at 9:30 p.m., half an hour after the nightly prison check where she was seen, said Associate Warden Maureen Atwood.

"At first we thought she might be hiding here someplace, but we now are treating it as though she has escaped," Atwood said.

Atwood said local, state and federal authorities, including the Secret Service, have been notified of Fromme's disappearance.

Fromme, a follower of mass murderer Charles Manson, was convicted of trying to kill Ford on Sept. 5, 1975, in Sacramento, Calif. -- the first of two attempts on the president's life in a month.

Ford was unharmed when a Secret Service agent grabbed a pistol aimed at him by Fromme.

Atwood said none of the federal prison's other 985 female prisoners was missing. The prison houses prisoners in maximum, medium and minimum security.

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