<p><br /> An unattended campfire and a suspicious forest ranger has led to the arrest of two of the most wanted fugitives in the US, ending a three-week nationwide manhunt.<br /> </p><p><br /> John McCluskey fled on July 30 with two other inmates from a private prison in northwest Arizona and evaded authorities in at least six states before being caught 300 miles east of the prison.<br /> </p><p><br /> Authorities arrested McCluskey, 45, and his alleged accomplice Casslyn Welch, 44, at a campsite in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in eastern Arizona.<br /> </p><p><br /> Welch, who is McCluskey's fiancee and cousin, reached for a weapon but dropped it when she realised she was outgunned by a swarming Swat team, said David Gonzales, US marshal for Arizona.<br /> </p><p><br /> Officers apprehended McCluskey without incident after finding him lying in a sleeping bag outside a tent. He told authorities he had a gun in his tent and would have shot them if he had been able to reach for it.<br /> </p><p><br /> It was a peaceful close to a manhunt that authorities had said was likely to end in a bloody shootout between officers and desperate outlaws who fancied themselves as a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde.<br /> </p>
