Convicted child killer Diane Downs escapes Oregon prison 30 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 11 1987)

(Saturay, July 11, 1987, 8:40 a.m. PDT)Diane Downs, serving a life term plus 50 years for murdering one of her children and wounding her other two in Lane County, Oregon, in 1983, escaped from the Oregon Women’s Correctional Center in Salem this morning after scaling a fence that surrounded the prison recreation yard.

Downs, 31, was recaptured just a few blocks from the prison on July 21, 1987.