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Escaped Inmate Captured Downstate

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An inmate who escaped from a prison in downstate Vandalia was captured without incident Wednesday morning.

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, inmate Marcus Battice escaped from the Vandalia Correctional Center, a minimum security prison, at approximately 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Battice was captured around 7:30 a.m., about 3.5 miles away from the Vandalia prison, according to IDOC spokesman Tom Shaer. Illinois State Police troopers on patrol spotted Battice along Interstate 70, a few miles east of the town of Vandalia.

Shaer said Battice was captured without incident, and would be transferred to the maximum security Pontiac Correctional Center.

Battice was incarcerated for burglary.

Officials said Battice was eligible for parole in January 2015.

Investigators determined Battice's escape "was an impulsive act" and he had no help in getting out of the Vandalia prison. Officials said he was wearing his prison uniform, but no heavier clothing to protect him against the colder nighttime weather, and had bought no food or water from the prison commissary to take on his escape; he had only bought a can of soda and a package of cookies.

Authorities also said there was no hole in the fence where Battice escaped, and he did not get out through a gate.

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