News 12 First at Five / Tuesday, September 7, 2010

HEPHZIBAH, Ga. -- Relief floods Hephzibah today as the news spreads- Franklin Wright has been captured. Investigators found him near Hephzibah City Hall and the Police Department late last night after a Hephzibah police officer saw him at Wally's convenience store on Windsor Spring Road.

Wright told officers he'd been hiding out in the woods in that area for several days. For almost a week people have been locking themselves inside, wondering where Franklin Wright was hiding. People in Hephzibah say they're glad things can now go back to normal.

"That was a little too close for comfort." Addie Turner lives next door to the police station where Wright was arrested Monday night. "I got a text at 6:30 this morning from a friend that said 'They caught him!' So now I can go walking again."

Turner says the whole town has been tense since Wright was spotted near the woods on Jones Road last Thursday. "There was not a soul on the streets," Addie describes. "It was probably the emptiest I'd ever seen it."

Camille Usry also lives near the woods where Wright tells deputies he was hiding. Usry describes several abandoned houses there where Wright might have found shelter. "Oh yeah- very much relieved! You know you hate to be alone with something like that going on."

Investigators say Wright left Wally's convenience store around midnight, disguised with a cane and limp. He walked right past a wanted poster with his picture on it. Authorities say Wright doused his clothes with chemicals to hide his scent from search dogs.

Hephzibah police Chief James Lewis says it feels like all of his 5,000 citizens are breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm sure that the citizens can sleep a little better now, from all the calls I've been getting. I've been getting some calls- whew! But I'm glad that's over with."

Lewis says his deputies have been on alert 24-7. "I guess he was feeling that nobody was gonna see him. Coming out at night like a vampire." Chief Lewis adds that the manhunt was a team effort with Richmond and Aiken counties. "I say to all the agencies- Hey, we did our job."

Addie says the experience was scary for the whole town but possibly could have been worse. "Fortunately he was laying low and wasn't out trying to get anybody else."

Turner says it makes sense that no one spotted Wright for several days. "There's lots of places to hide around here, lots of woods, abandoned houses. So the thought was, he could be anywhere."

Lula lives near Railroad Avenue. She says it's just nice to feel safe on her porch again. "Just nothing's ever happened like that in Hephzibah, and by it being so close and we had to stay locked up. I'm an outside person. I just love to be outside, but it was horrible."

Lula says deputies from Richmond County and Hephzibah have been patrolling the area constantly. "For the safety of our neighborhood, I hope nothing like that would ever happen again."

For now, she says things in Hephzibah are back to normal.

Wright is scheduled to make his first court appearance Wednesday in Richmond County. This should be the first of many court dates; he's charged in two different counties in two different states. Wright is facing double murder charges in Aiken County. He has robbery by force, aggravated assault, and kidnapping charges in Richmond County. The district attorneys in both counties will work together to decide who will prosecute Wright first.