Washington D.C. - The U.S. Marshals announced today the arrest of the most wanted woman in America, Sarah Pender. Pender, the lone female fugitive on the Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted list, was arrested Saturday, December 20, in Chicago by local authorities. An anonymous tip was received less than two hours after Pender was profiled on Fox’s America’s Most Wanted, and police were able to pinpoint her whereabouts. She was found in an apartment in the 2200 block of West Farwell Avenue and was arrested without incident.

Pender was convicted in 2002 on two counts of murder and was serving a 110-year sentence in the Rockville Correction Facility in Indiana before she escaped in August. In 2000, Pender and her boyfriend purchased a shotgun and returned to their residence where they shot their two roommates. After killing the roommates, Pender and her boyfriend disposed of the bodies in a trash dumpster.

While serving her sentence, prison authorities believe Pender befriended a correctional officer, who allegedly helped her escape. Prison security footage on the day she escaped shows Pender walking toward a prison exit at the same time the guard drove into the facility to get gasoline. Authorities believe the guard hid her in the vehicle and drove her off the prison grounds where she met up with her get-away driver.

According to Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal W. Buz Brown of the Southern District of Indiana, the citizen tip leading to Pender’s location indicated the trust between the public and the joint law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation.

Pender is currently awaiting an extradition hearing and may be returned to Indiana as early as today.

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