The capture is ironic.
Two inmates who escaped from the Edmonton Institution for Women Monday night were captured less than 24 hours later — at an escape room downtown.
Kelsie Laine Marie Mast, 23, and Samantha Faye Toope, 20, had jumped the fence of the prison Monday night and fled.
The co-owner of SideQuests Adventures on 102nd Avenue and 104th Street, Jonathan Liaw, said two women came down to the lobby of the escape room about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
They asked the standard questions about the popular problem-solving and strategy game rooms where players are given clues and a time limit in which to find their way out.
“They asked to see one and we said, ‘Sure, no problem.’ That’s a pretty normal thing. A lot of people want to see what they’re getting into before they book.”
Liaw said his wife, Rebecca, showed them one of the escape rooms.
Rebecca and Jonathan Liaw, co-owners of SideQuests Adventures, the escape room business where two prison escapees were arrested Tuesday. (CBC)
Everything seemed normal
About a minute later, police came down the stairs asking if they’d seen two women.
“He asked if they had prior appointments with us. I told him, ‘No, they did not,’ ” Liaw said.
Four more police officers joined and proceeded to put the women in handcuffs.
“There were no signs of anything that we should be red-flagging,” Liaw said. “They didn’t seem like they were hiding from anyone or anything.”
He said the women, dressed in jeans and hoodies, had carried on a normal conversation, asking normal questions.
“How many puzzles? How long was the timer? What are the themes we have? That sort of thing.”
In a downtown location where panhandlers and intoxicated people are fairly common, Liaw said this situation was unique.
“We get lots of interesting visitors but this is definitely top of the list for ‘definitely interesting.’ “
Jeff Campbell, regional communications manager for the Prairie region with Correctional Service Canada, said it wasn’t immediately clear how the women got away from the prison at 11151 178th St.
He said they were looking into the situation to prevent future escapes.
Edmonton police described both women as violent offenders with a history of weapons offences.
Toope is serving a two-year sentence for robbery, theft, possession of property obtained by crime and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
Mast is serving two years and nine months for drug trafficking, theft, possession of property obtained by crime and mischief.