HUMBOLDT ? Life in Humboldt is beginning to get back to normal. Customers returning to the H&H Grill Friday morning were a welcome sight to owner Sandy Hurst.
Forty-eight hours after Aaron Hutton turned himself into the Iola Police Department, after a weeklong manhunt centered on the Neosho River by Humboldt, residents were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
?Everyone was scared. Nobody would get out and do anything because they were scared. We didn?t have any customers until today. I live way out in the country and I was scared to go out to my car every morning at 5 a.m. because it was dark. Is he in my car? Is he hiding somewhere? You just don?t know what someone like that is capable of doing,? Hurst said.
Jerry Croisant sat quietly waiting for the rest of his friends to show up for their regular cup of coffee. When asked about the week?s events he smiled briefly before saying, ?Yes, it was quite the week.?
?I wasn?t very close to it, but Hutton was in my daughter and son-in-law?s front yard. She teaches at the school and went home to get something. The school called her and said don?t come back, the school is on lockdown. They tell her a man is on the run and she said, ?What? He?s in my front yard.??
John Rob was very close to the action, as law enforcement chased Hutton through Rob?s back yard.
?He ran right through my backyard. I was out working on a lawn mower. I really don?t know how they didn?t get him. The police were about from me to the bank (40 yards away) over there from him when he came running. I don?t know if they took a wrong turn somewhere along the way,? Rob said. ?It?s just not everyday you see a man escape by riding a log down a river.?
Everyone laughs now, because they are able to.
?It is a huge relief. People are going out and living their lives like they always had,? Hurst said. ?We just don?t need that kind of excitement.?
Everyone waits in anticipation for the next suspect to get caught.
Retired barber Barry Adams says he heard on the news that they were looking for the person who cut and dyed Hutton?s hair.
?It is pretty obvious the guy had a girlfriend. I mean, duh,? Adams cracks. ?Not too many guys know how to dye hair like that.?
While not condoning what Hutton had done, Rob was impressed with Hutton?s feat of staying on the run for so long.
?It?s pretty impressive when you think about it. He had a lot of help. I just don?t see how he got away,? Rob says. ?He was a pretty slippery fellow.?
Charlie ?Tillie? Tillman talks about the upcoming football scrimmage to take place later that night.
