One of Tennessee’s most wanted fugitives, who escaped from prison in 1990, remains on the lam 30 years after being placed on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Most Wanted list.
Robert Houston Sanders, serving an 81-year sentence for kidnapping and armed robbery, escaped from the Tennessee State Prison on April 20, 1990 and disappeared. Sanders (pictured above) has been on TBI’s Most Wanted list since its inception in 1993. He is the only most wanted fugitive in the state with that distinction and is still considered “armed and dangerous.”
There is a $5,000 reward for Sanders’ capture. Born in 1964, he would now be 59.
“He’s the only individual who’s been on the top 10 since we formed it 25 years ago,” a TBI spokesman told WKRN in 2018.
“By and large, they are individuals who are considered the most dangerous individuals out there who need to be in law enforcement custody,” Devine reportedly said at the time. “Most times, we’ll put an individual on the top ten and the case will resolve within a day or two. That really for us proves the value.”
According to various reports, there are 30 escaped convicts from Tennessee prisons that are still on the run. The Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) used to keep a list of those convicts, but the current webpage returns an error.
Only two other men on TBI’s Most Wanted list have remained there for more than a decade.
Jose G. Rocha is wanted for criminal homicide. It is alleged that in 2009, he stabbed a man to death in McMinnville. Just one month after the alleged crime, he was placed on TBI’s list. Authorities say it is possible that he has fled to Texas or Mexico.
Obed Cruz-Mena has been on the list since 2010.
He is wanted in connection with the alleged first-degree murder of his wife in Hendersonville, and authorities also said they believe he may have fled to Mexico.
In 2020, his case was featured on Investigation Discovery’s “In Pursuit with John Walsh.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
