A convicted rapist and a burglar who escaped from prison, stole 2 vehicles, and kidnapped a Kentucky highway department employee have been arrested in Florida

• Two Tennessee inmates were found in Florida two days after they escaped from prison.
• The men, a convicted rapist and convicted burglar, kidnapped a state highway employee in Kentucky and stole two cars.
• They were found Sunday nearly a thousand miles from the prison and placed under arrest.

Two inmates at a Tennessee prison escaped on Friday, kidnapped a Kentucky state employee, and stole several cars on their way to Florida, the Henry County Sheriff's Office said.

Robert Brown, 36, is serving an 18-year sentence for aggravated rape. Christopher Osteen, 34, is serving an eight-year sentence for burglary, according to a release from the office.

Both men were found Sunday, about an hour apart, in Pompano, Florida, and arrested, according to officials.

Brown and Osteen were on the run after escaping a minimum-security annex of the prison in Tiptonville, Tennessee.

The Sheriff's office said the pair kidnapped an employee of the highway department in Fulton County, Kentucky, from a boat ramp on the Mississippi River.

The employee and his department truck were later found in Henry County, the sheriff's office said.

The next day deputies found a Henry County resident tied up and blindfolded at his home.

The pair had stolen his 2009 Chevrolet Silverado extended-cab pickup truck, which was found Sunday in Florida, the Associated Press reported.

The two had traveled nearly 1,000 miles after breaking out of prison.

In the two days that the men were on the run, authorities asked members of the public to be vigilant of suspicious activity.

• Read more:
• A Chicago inmate escaped jail by swapping places with another detainee and wearing a coronavirus mask so nobody saw his face tattoos
• 2 murder suspects pulled off a 'Shawshank Redemption'-style escape
• About 50 inmates escaped from Italian prisons as the coronavirus triggered riots and brought the country's criminal-justice system to a halt