The State - News from July 14, 1987

Convicted child murderer Elizabeth Diane Downs, who escaped from a medium-security women’s prison in Salem, Ore., probably is headed for California, where her youngest child was given up for adoption, said a writer working with her on a book. Downs, 31, was convicted in 1984 of killing one of her children and wounding two others. Her fourth child, Amy, was born two weeks after Downs was found guilty. Writer Richard Cone said he talked to the woman last week and she gave no indication that she had immediate plans to flee, although she hinted in the past that she might attempt to escape when all her appeals were exhausted. She escaped Saturday.