NBC Dateline: How were Toby Dorr and John Manard caught after escaping Lansing Correctional Facility?

In February 2006, Toby Dorr, a prison volunteer for a rehabilitative dog program then in her late 40s, helped 27-year-old John Manard, a convicted murderer, escape from Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas after falling in love with him. Dorr claimed she smuggled the prisoner out of prison using dog crates in the back of a van.

The two fugitives were caught after a 13-day long chase, which is regarded as one of the biggest in the history of Kansas State and involved around 40 law enforcement units and two helicopters. Authorities nabbed them in a tiny mall parking lot following a tip. Toby Dorr served prison time as a consequence and has since changed her life after being released in 2008.

Years later, NBC Dateline is slated to revisit the scandal, which made national news at the time, in an upcoming episode titled Breakout that will air on Saturday, October 1, 2022 at 9 pm ET.

Here's everything to know about the high-profile manhunt ahead of the episode premiere.

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Officers called the chase for Toby Dorr and John Manard "the largest chase" in Kansas state history

According to Kansas Corrections Department spokesperson Bill Miskell, investigators received a tip that Toby Dorr, then Young, under a fake identity, had purchased a pickup truck in Missouri in the days preceding the breakout. The ticket revealed the address of an isolated cabin in Alpine, Tennessee, which cops staked out.

Reportedly, Deputy U.S. Marshal Ray Stewart made a press statement, saying,

"They had a pretty good head start, but they left some crumbs along the way. I guess you could say we were hungry."

The truck was ultimately located roughly 100 miles south of Chattanooga, in a mall parking lot where other officials started to assemble to strategize.

Convicted criminal John Manard, then 27, and 48-year-old Toby Dorr, both, left a Barnes & Noble bookshop and walked right past the officers who were dicussing ways on how to apprehend the couple. The situation soon culminated in a high-speed chase on Interstate 75 between Chattanooga and Knoxville.

Troopers from the Tennessee Highway Patrol joined the chase as they traveled down I-75 into Knoxville. Within a few minutes, some 40 troops, including two helicopters, were after the couple as they raced down the highway. In contrast, the Knoxville Police Department's protocols only permit the involvement of two units, but this high-profile chase also included Deputy U.S. Marshal Jason Ladd.

Deputy Marshal Ladd reportedly said,

"It was the largest chase I've ever been in. I've never had the amount of manpower that was put in that."

The couple were finally arrested by authorities when their vehicle hit a tree following the brief chase on Interstate 75 between Chattanooga and Knoxville. Ladd addressed the crash, claiming that it was "calming" when it came to a peaceful end, given that nobody was hurt in the heated moment.

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Toby Dorr served 27 months in prison after getting arrested

John Manard and Toby Dorr, who were allegedly carrying two weapons and about $25,000 in cash when they escaped, looked "significantly different" when they were apprehended, given the fact that both tried to alter their appearances and identities. Moreover, when authorities searched their cabin, they found that it was "loaded with goodies," including two guns and a laptop, among other things.

Dorr was reportedly accused of taking contraband into prison, facilitating an aggravated escape, and giving a felon access to weapons. She entered a guilty plea and was given a sentence of 27 months in federal prison, which ran in parallel with her 21-month state term. She was released in 2008, while Manard remains in prison to date.

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NBC Dateline airs this Saturday, October 1, 2022, with Toby Borr and John Manard's prison escape story at 9 pm ET.