Retired Biloxi detective sends message to escaped killer Pretty Boy Floyd: 'Call me.'
A former detective who spent much time talking to Michael Floyd Wilson wants the escaped, two-time killer to call him.
Steve Schlicht, who developed a relationship with Wilson during his criminal cases in Biloxi, wants Wilson to call any Mississippi Coast law enforcement agency so arrangements can be made for Schlicht to return his call.
The retired Biloxi police officer was the lead detective on Wilson's arrests in Biloxi crimes, including one of two homicides that sent Wilson to prison on two life sentences.
Known as Pretty Boy Floyd, Wilson escaped from the South Mississippi Correctional Institute in Leakesville about 12:48 p.m. Thursday.
The George County Sheriff's Department tracked Floyd's movement from an area near the Lucedale Walmart and D'Iberville police began following leads that he was heading to that city Thursday night.
People across the Mississippi Coast have shared numerous Facebook posts saying Floyd has been seen in places from Ocean Springs to Waveland.
Schlicht was the founding crisis negotiator for the Biloxi and Gulfport police departments. He retired in 2015 after 25 years in local law enforcement.
"Being the lead detective for the Biloxi cases he was involved in, I have interviewed Michael Floyd Wilson several times and we both established a fairly good rapport with each other," Schlicht said.
"The men and women carrying the burden of the badge involved (in the hunt for Wilson) are honestly doing their best and definitely doing the right thing."
However, Schlicht believes that if Wilson will just call to speak to him, "he and I would find out if we could work together to resolve events."
Schlicht said he wants to have "basic conversation, actually." But he hopes the conversation can lead to a safe resolution of a multi-agency manhunt.
Wilson, 47, was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for each of the fatal beatings in 2014 of Carmen Dale Edwards in Biloxi and Kenneth Gibson in Gulfport. He also was serving time for several other felony convictions, one of which carried a prison term of 18 years.
Wilson is 5-feet-11, weighs 160 pounds and has hazel eyes.
He doesn't look like the mugshot taken by the Mississippi Department of Corrections after his latest sentencing three years ago. His head was shaved at the time. Officials have said his hair is now longer and curly.
Officers in helicopters reportedly were searching for him Friday morning near Sunplex in Ocean Springs, which is south of Center Pointe Church on Mississippi 57.
A woman in Gulfport Park Estates posted on Facebook that she told the Jackson County Sheriff's Department she saw him Friday morning on Pointe Aux Chenes Road.
This story was originally published July 6, 2018 at 12:04 PM.