Camper Found, More On Seymore’s Arrest
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Yalobusha County deputies (from left) Capt. Taylor Byford, Lt. Tyler Wortham, and Chief Deputy Thomas West recovered a camper last week allegedly stolen by Sam Seymore.
WATER VALLEY – A stolen camper connected to fugitive Sam Seymore has been recovered by the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department, adding another chapter to the month-long manhunt that ended with his capture last Monday, Aug. 4.
Sam Seymore
Yalobusha County Sheriff Jerimaine Gooch said the camper was hidden deep in the woods on private land bordering the Holly Springs National Forest near Tillatoba. It had been pulled several hundred yards down a four-wheeler trail and had to be backed out.
Chief Deputy Thomas West said the discovery came while deputies were checking locations where Seymore was known to hide. “We were using a drone when we spotted it,” West told the Herald.
The camper was reported stolen earlier this summer from a hunting camp on County Road 70, the same theft that also involved a boat and led to some of Seymore’s current charges.
Dramatic Arrest
Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly told the Sun-Sentinel that Seymore was caught after falling through a ceiling at his mother’s home on Highway 35 south, landing in a bedroom, and bolting out the back door before U.S. Marshals used a Taser to subdue him.
Yalobusha County deputies were also on the scene during the arrest, assisting the Marshals and other agencies in securing the property.
Seymore’s arrest on Aug. 4 capped a month-long search that began after Seymore fled into the woods following a July 10 multi-county chase. Authorities said he was armed and familiar with the terrain, forcing officers to proceed with extreme caution.
Inside the home where he was found last week, deputies recovered multiple firearms. A stolen four-wheeler was also seized from the property.
Seymore’s sister, Rita Seymore, was arrested for aiding escape and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His girlfriend, Emily Cockerham — arrested in July —also faces additional charges.
Seymore faces a barrage of charges including grand larceny for allegedly stealing the camper in Yalobusha County; multiple counts of felony fleeing for two different pursuits that started in Yalobusha County, felon in possession of a firearm, as well as petty larceny and burglary of a building in Tallahatchie County.
He is being held at the CCA facility in Tutwiler on a bond of $222,500. Seymore was on probation for an earlier felony conviction that landed him in state prison, according to the Sun Sentinel.
Another Fugitive On The Run
In other law enforcement activity, Sheriff Gooch reported his deputies joined law enforcement officials from Tallahatchie, Panola, Desoto and agents with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Monday in the search for Ewel Scott, 44, a Tallahatchie County man suspected in a string of thefts in Panola and Tallahatchie counties
Chief Deputy Thomas West said Scott was released from prison on October 16, 2024, and has been on law enforcement’s radar ever since. Authorities in Panola and Tallahatchie counties believe he is responsible for stealing multiple items in recent weeks, including a side-by-side, a Kubota tractor, two four-wheelers, a shotgun, and a Ford F-250. West said complaints about stolen vehicles started coming in within the last few months, and he believes Scott is “probably more elusive than Seymore.”
“We were notified by Tallahatchie County authorities that Ewel Scott had fled from law enforcement on a four-wheeler and bailed on foot in the area of Enid Depot,” Gooch told the Herald.
Scott is wanted in multiple counties for theft, according to Gooch.
This isn’t Scott’s first time on the run; he escaped custody in 2020, evading authorities for 31 days. Scott, who was serving time for felony taking of a motor vehicle at the Yalobusha County Detention Center, vanished on April 1, 2020. He was apprehended a month later and served additional time.
At the time of his capture in 2020, Tallahatchie County authorities noted that Scott, dressed in “old camouflage clothes” at the time of his capture, had been living off the land without the benefit of any creature comforts. He appeared to have been staying and sleeping in an abandoned truck and walking to the Yocona River, about one mile away from his hideout, where he would catch fish at night and cook and eat them on the riverbank.
Now, for the second time in five years, police resources are again dedicated to tracking him down. If anyone has information about Scott, Gooch urged them to contact local authorities.
“He should be considered armed,” Sheriff Gooch added.
