A police appeal for runaway Morgan Freeman went viral after hundreds of social media users speculated a wanted lag from Somerset has escaped prison to lie on a beach in Mexico like his famous namesake
Cops hunting for a fugitive called Morgan Freeman have been told to “search a beach in Mexico” by online jokers. Avon and Somerset Police issued a public appeal for the 27-year-old who is wanted on recall to prison.
The force said he had failed to comply with licence conditions and asked for the public’s help in tracing him. Anyone with information was urged to call 999 immediately.
But they were met with a barrage of quips about a “Shawshank Redemption sequel” in reference the Hollywood blockbuster that starred his famous namesake as a prisoner who violates his parole by reuniting with his cellmate in Mexico.
One social media wag replied with a quote from the film in which Freeman’s character Ellis Redding said: “I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright.”
A second joked: “He’s gone to find Andy Dufrasne on a beach in Mexico I last heard”, while a third asked: “Did he also escape from Shawshank State Prison?”
A fourth added: “He’s on a beach with his mate Andy Dufresne.” Another said: “I bet the police put these posts on just for a bit of entertainment from the public.”
A Facebook user referenced Freeman’s role in the comedy Bruce Almighty in which the actor plays God. They wrote: “Ya might find him up in the clouds talking with Bruce.”
Someone else wrote: “When your mum names you Morgan Freeman but the only thing you’re narrating is your own police appeal.” While another added: “His mum definitely had a sense of humour.”
The wanted lag is said to have links to several Somerset towns, including Taunton Shepton Mallet and Frome, a police spokesman said.
Police said he was described as white, around 5ft 4ins tall and of slim build. The force said he had light brown or ginger hair and a beard. He was also said to have several distinctive tattoos, including a roulette wheel, a Mandala design and script.
The Shawshank Redemption follows Andy Dufresne, a banker wrongly imprisoned for murder, as he quietly plans his escape over nearly 20 years.
He tunnels out of Shawshank State Penitentiary with a rock hammer, crawls through a sewage pipe, and vanishes, eventually turning up on a sun-drenched beach in Mexico, where his cellmate Redding joins him when he finally gets released a year later.
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