Women Who Escaped From Prison

Margaret B. Smith

Margaret B. Smith was convicted in 1974 of writing more than $200 worth of useless checks. She was sentenced to four years at the Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh, North Carolina, but would serve the last few months in the Robeson County halfway house before escaping.She claimed that a visit by her seven-year-old daughter brought disturbing news, and she had to break out to protect her family. She still hasn’t revealed what her daughter said that made her leave the halfway house. After escaping, she briefly moved to Florida and went by the name Margaret Valeus. She later returned to Fayetteville to be with her family.In 2015, an FBI task force officer knocked on her door, ready to place her back in custody. Her capture was a result of a joint effort by the FBI and North Carolina’s Department of Public Safety to locate and return prison escapees from the State.