The body of a man found dead inside a warehouse in Philadelphia has been identified as the escaped prisoner Gino Hagenkotter, police said.
Hagenkotter was found in the warehouse located on the 1100 block of East Venango Street on Monday just before 2:30 p.m., according to police.
Police are investigating. So far, they have discovered a broken air vent and a fan pushed out with a ladder lying nearby which they believe means Hagenkotter forced entry into the warehouse.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office was able to identify the man as Hagenkotter by his fingerprints, officials said.
Gino Hagenkotter, a 34-year-old inmate at Riverside Correctional Facility, was working a detail assignment in the orchard behind the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Facility (PICC) at 8201 State Road shortly before noon on Thursday, Nov. 30, according to officials.
Hagenkotter asked a guard if he could use the bathroom and was allowed to do so, Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney said during a press conference.
Hagenkotter never returned after leaving to use the bathroom however, according to Carney.
"This person was allowed to use the bathroom. The officer, when he determined that he did not return in sufficient time, it was then he went to that bathroom area and discovered that [Hagenkotter] had left the compound," Carney said.
Carney said the officer alerted officials at 12:05 p.m. on Thursday that Hagenkotter escaped. Officials searched through surveillance video and determined Hagenkotter had climbed a fence and escaped through the facility's sanitation yard around 11:45 a.m. that morning.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
