How do U.S. Marshals track down escaped prisoners, according to Lenny DePaul?

Retired U.S. Marshal Lenny DePaul tells Dateline that an escape case triggers an all-hands response using aircraft, drones, bloodhounds and thermal imaging, alongside a background investigation into who the inmate called, who visited and what websites he used. Old-fashioned door knocking still matters, including talking to the fugitive's mother, as do digital footprints, cellular intercepts and license plate readers. His advice to the public is to stay away from a fugitive and call 911.

• DePaul says bloodhounds losing a scent at a road usually means someone picked the fugitive up.
• The discussion followed the escape of Jacob Morley from a Tennessee prison, who was captured in Missouri after a nine-day manhunt.

▸In their words

“You can run, but you can't hide. And when you run, you only go to jail tired.” Lenny DePaul · at 37:23 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Dateline NBC (2026-11-05). Read the whole episode summary →

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