POMEROY — The last of three men who escaped from the Meigs County Jail last week was recaptured in Jackson County, W.Va., and returned to the custody of the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office.

Timothy Wickersham and two other men escaped early on Aug. 23, by using a mop handle to remove keys from an open key box and unlocking the cell door, and walking out undected through a fire exit. James Lee Garnes and Buford W. Smallwood, Jr., were apprehended later the same day.

Wickersham, according to Sheriff Robert Beegle, was captured Friday by authorities in Jackson Couny, W.Va. Beegle said Wickersham’s former girlfriend, Amanda Brotherton, was housing Wickersham at her home in Ripley, W.Va., and has been charged there with aiding and abetting a fugitive.

Wickersham and Garnes are now back in the county jail in Pomeroy.

Smallwood has since been transported to prison. He was awaiting conveyance to the Orient Reception Center when he escaped. Smallwood had already escaped the jail once, earlier this summer, but was apprehended shortly after. Wickersham also faced escape charges when he fled the jail on Aug. 23. Beegle said he expects the men to be charged with felony escape by the grand jury.

Beegle said the jailer on duty at the time of the escape was busy performing dispatcher duties and had left the key box unlocked and unattended while performing other tasks. Beegle said he would be subject to disciplinary action, and that new security procedures would be put in place.