Ohio board grants parole to 'Shawshank Fugitive'

MELBOURNE, Fla. – An Ohio board has granted parole to a man who disappeared from an Ohio prison camp in 1959 while serving time for manslaughter and was found last year in Florida.

Frank Freshwaters wasn't at Thursday's hearing before the state parole board in Columbus.

Investigators who tracked down Freshwaters say the 79-year-old widower was living off Social Security benefits under an alias at a weathered trailer in rural Brevard County, Florida.

His attorney argued for Freshwaters' release, saying he has lived a clean life and never forgot the accident that led to his case.

A son of the victim in the manslaughter case told the board that Freshwaters should be held accountable.

Freshwaters was first caught in West Virginia in 1975 but wasn't extradited then.