Mom arrested in Calif. after 32 years on the lam

After her escape from a Detroit prison, she married and had three children

	This undated image provided by the Michigan Department of Corrections shows a booking photograph of Susan Lefevre, now known as Marie Walsh.
AP

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updated 5:36 p.m. ET April 30, 2008

SAN DIEGO - A woman who escaped from a Detroit prison 32 years ago has been arrested in San Diego, where she was married with three children and living under a false name, authorities said.

Susan LeFevre, who had been using the name Marie Walsh, was arrested April 24 by federal marshals at her home in the posh Carmel Valley neighborhood of San Diego. An anonymous caller tipped Michigan officials to her location.

Her husband said Wednesday that the wife he knew was kind and compassionate.

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"We're still just getting over this but it's been a tremendous shock to us," said Alan Walsh, her husband of 23 years. He said the pair met in California and have three children.

The U.S. Marshals said in a statement that LeFevre initially denied her identity but admitted it once she was confronted with the fingerprint evidence. She told deputies that her husband and children knew nothing of her past.

Image: Susan Lefevre, Marie Walsh
AP
This family photo shows Susan LeFevre today, now known as Marie Walsh.
LeFevre, 53, of Saginaw County, Mich., walked out of the Detroit House of Corrections, now known as the Robert Scott Correctional Facility, in February 1976 after serving the first year of her 10- to 20-year sentence on state drug charges.