Michael Burham

Following his capture Wednesday in South Carolina, Michael Burham will be extradited back to Jamestown.

The FBI, along with its law enforcement partners, arrested Burham, 34, on federal and multiple state arrest warrants late Wednesday afternoon, following a multi-day manhunt. Burham was arrested in South Carolina near the Berkeley-Charleston county line. Authorities credit an observant Berkeley County resident who spotted Burham near his home and immediately called 911. Responding law enforcement agencies used K-9s to track Burham, which aided in his arrest. No one was injured when Burham was taken into custody.

“He obviously looked like he had been in the woods for some time,” Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis told reporters about his Wednesday capture, according to an ABC News report. “We gave him some water … he blurted out that you know he had been on the run and he wanted something to drink.”

Burham had been on the run since May 11, when Jamestown police began investigating a homicide on Williams Street, Jamestown. By May 15 arrest warrants had been issued for Burham in relation to a car fire on Fulton Street at the same time Burham was wanted for questioning in the death of Hodgkin. The 34-year-old man also is wanted on charges of first-degree rape and unlawful imprisonment stemming from a March 13, 2023, incident to his most recent charges in New York of third-degree arson, fourth-degree criminal mischief, endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of second-degree criminal contempt and the FBI warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution that was issued in U.S. District Court on Monday.

“Jamestown Police have been working this case with our law enforcement partners at the local, state and federal level, since May 11, 2023, after the homicide of Kala Hodgkin,” said Jamestown Police Capt. Robert Samuelson. “Through this collaboration, law enforcement agencies, across several states, were able to safely bring Michael Burham into custody. We thank the community for their tips and support throughout these past 13 days.”

On Saturday, more than a week after the Jamestown homicide and fire, Burham allegedly kidnapped a Sheffield couple whose family notified police they were missing when they didn’t attend a soccer game with the rest of their family. The missing couple were found in South Carolina at 6:30 a.m. Sunday at a cemetery in North Charleston and told police they had been kidnapped at gunpoint. The couple was unharmed.

The search intensified from there. Burham began. Burham had reportedly been sighted multiple times in the following days in the North Charleston area. A Berkeley County sheriff’s deputy encountered Burham on Tuesday, but Burham ran for another day until he was caught.

“Every single law enforcement team, from Buffalo to South Carolina, was determined and committed to finding this dangerous man,” said Matthew Miraglia, special agent-in-charge of the FBI Buffalo Field Office. “Burham had evaded law enforcement long enough. I am thankful no one was injured and grateful to all the law enforcement agencies that came together and of course, the community members who provided tips along the way. We all came together. Our communities are safer tonight because of those efforts.”

Agencies involved in the roughly two-week search include the FBI Buffalo Field Office, Jamestown Police Department, Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, Dunkirk Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, FBI Pittsburgh, FBI Columbia, and all the agencies that assisted with the arrest in Charleston, South Carolina, including: SLED, the U.S. Marshals, SC PPP, Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, SC DNR, North Charleston Police Department, Summerville Police Department, City of Charleston Police Department and Mount Pleasant Police Department.