Women Who Escaped Prison Caught by Police at an Escape Room

Two women in their 20s who escaped a prison in Edmonton, Alberta were apprehended by police at an escape room Tuesday after they'd been on the run since Monday night.

Kelsie Laine Marie Mast, 23, and Samantha Faye Toope, 20, had reportedly escaped the Edmonton Institution for Women by jumping a fence. Both women have a history of violent and weapons offences, according to police.

The owners of SideQuests Adventures on 102nd Avenue and 104th Street in Edmonton told CBC News that Mast and Toope entered the lobby of their business on Tuesday night around 8:30 PM. According to owners Jonathan and Rebecca Liaw, the two escaped prisoners then began asking questions about the various escape room experiences the business offers, like how long the timer was and what themes were offered.

Rebecca then showed them to one of the escape rooms, at which point cops came in.

"While I was holding that conversation with them, we kind of turned only to find the hallway full of five police officers," she told CBC News. "Then they were arrested immediately, and that was the end of that conversation."

According to Jonathan, the escaped prisoners did not set up a prior appointment for one of their adventures—they had just walked in.

Toope is serving a two-year sentence in prison for multiple offences, including theft, robbery, possession of property obtained by crime, and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. Mast is serving two years and nine months due to offences for theft, drug trafficking, mischief, and possession of property obtained by crime.

Police said in a press release that someone had spotted the women walking down the street in the area and called it in. Cops responded to the call and were able to locate Mast and Toope on the street.

Were the women looking for a consulting gig? Did they think it was just the most unlikely place for cops to come looking for them? Is escaping just a hobby to them? While all this is tempting to consider, a likely scenario is that the escape room business just happened to be a convenient place for the prison escapees to duck into while evading police, but we appreciate the irony anyway.