Associated Press
MILFORD, Pa., April 18 - A Croatian nationalist convicted in a 1976 transatlantic hijacking was recaptured today as he sat on a porch outside a store a day after he escaped prison, authorities said.
Zvonko Busic was discovered missing Friday when a dummy was found in his cell at the Otisville Correctional Facility in Otisville, N.Y., north of New York City, prison spokesman Greg Bogdan said. A nationwide search was begun.
Milford police found Busic, 41, sitting on the back porch of the Village News Stand about 6:30 a.m. today.
Busic was serving a life sentence for air piracy resulting in a police officer's death. In September 1976, five people hijacked a TWA flight that left New York City for Chicago. The plane, commandeered over Buffalo, went to Montreal and then to Europe, finally landing in Paris, where the five surrendered.
The group demanded that leaflets for Croatian independence be distributed in four countries. The demand was met. No passengers were injured, but Busic and his wife were held responsible for the death of New York City policeman Brian Murray as he tried to diffuse a bomb planted as part of the plot at Grand Central Station.