2025’s Fugitives Most Wanted By the New Jersey State Police

The New Jersey State Police has released its list of 2025's Most Wanted Fugitives, which includes several fugitives from South Jersey.

The list also includes a long-on-the-run fugitive wanted for escaping prison after murdering a New Jersey State Trooper.

There is a $2 million reward for Joanne Chesimard.

$2 Million Reward for Return of NJ Fugitive

On May 2, 1973, Joanne Chesimard and two accomplices were stopped by NJ State Troopers for a routine traffic violation.

Joanne Chesimard and her accomplices opened fire on the troopers.

Troopers returned fire, and when it was over, Trooper Harper was injured, and Trooper Werner Foerster was killed.

Chesimard was captured, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison.

In November 1979, Chesimard escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility for Women.
She managed to elude authorities until 1984 when she turned up in Cuba.

The Cuban government granted Chesimard political asylum, and despite efforts to bring her to justice, it is believed she continues to live there to this day.

South Jersey Fugitives

Kurt Young of Dennis Township

Kurt Young from Dennis Township, a former NJ corrections officer, never appeared in court to face charges of paying for sex with a trafficked minor. He's been on the lam since.

Young's co-defendants, Derek V Ross of Atlantic City and Tiffany N. Davis of Egg Harbor Township, were tried and convicted in 2023.

Derrick Ross admitted that he brought the 14-year-old victim to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City in November 2019.

Ross thought he was connecting with a patron who answered an online ad for an escort, but it was really an undercover investigator.

Tiffany Davis testified that Young paid her and Ross to bring the teen to his Dennis Township house for sex, authorities said.

The child picked out Young from a photo lineup and was able to describe his home in detail, according to a criminal complaint.

John Schlump From Woodbine

On Dec. 2, 2005, Schlump, now 75, booby-trapped his Woodbine log cabin with gasoline, firewood, fuses, and flares, New Jersey State Police say.

When his wife, Patricia Barnes, arrived home, he allegedly beat her and tied her up with duct tape and nylon cord. Schlump never showed up for his court date.

A New Jersey court has declared John Schlump deceased. However, he is still considered a fugitive by state police.