FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: August 29, 2008 Eastern District of Michigan - Patrick Read, Deputy United States Marshal, PAO (313) 234-5673; USMS Headquarters Public Affairs (202) 307-9065   Female Fugitive Escapee From 1972 Apprehended by U.S. Marshals   Detroit, MI – In 1972, Tamiko Smith plead to a two-year maximum incarceration in Detroit’s 36th District Court for a Non-Sufficient Funds charge. She began serving her sentence in the Detroit House of Corrections located in Plymouth Mich. Less than four months into her sentence, Smith was placed on escape status with the Michigan Department of Corrections and remained an escapee for the next 36 years until she was captured this past week by U.S. Marshals. On July 28, 2008, the U.S. Marshals led Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Task Force (DFAT) received the warrant and began investigating the whereabouts of Smith. “Through good old fashioned investigative police work, the task force determined that Ms. Smith was still in the Detroit area,” said U.S. Marshal Robert M. Grubbs. “However, they determined that she was living under as many four names.” On August 26, task investigators went to a possible location and learned that Smith did indeed live there but was evicted less than a month before. Investigators began canvassing the area and within two hours identified her walking on Woodward near Clairmount. The Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Task Force is a multi agency task force dedicated to locating and apprehending fugitives. The Detroit U.S. Marshals office is the lead agency and it has officers from the Michigan State Police, the Sterling Heights Police Department, the Livonia Police Department, the Detroit Police Department, and Deputies from the Wayne and Oakland Sheriff’s Offices. Nationwide, USMS-led fugitive task forces arrested more than 56,600 state/local fugitives, clearing 70,329 state/local felony warrants. The United States Marshals Service arrests more federal fugitives than all other DOJ law enforcement agencies combined. For more information about the U.S. Marshals, visit http://www.usmarshals.gov.