VALLEY HI — A daring escape by a woman who jumped from a bridge while handcuffed ended early this morning when she was taken into custody at a Valley Hi home.

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Sandra I. Duffy, 43, jumped Tuesday night from the Sleepy Hollow Bridge north of Wenatchee into the water about 20 feet below.

She had agreed to arrange a drug deal for Columbia River Drug Task Force agents after being arrested earlier Tuesday. But instead of buying methamphetamine, she eluded searchers who never saw her surface from the water, said Lt. Jerry Moore of the Chelan County Sheriff's Office.

Moore said an anonymous tip called in at 1 a.m. today to RiverCom dispatchers led deputies to Duffy. She was found at a home in the 3100 block of Allen Lane in the Valley Hi community, about eight miles southwest of Peshastin and 23 miles from where she was last seen.

Moore said the sheriff's office is still investigating how Duffy made it to Valley Hi.

"She refused to talk to us, so we don't know," Moore said.

Residents of the home where she was found were not arrested, Moore said, adding that he didn't know what relationship they had with Duffy.

"We are going to be continuing this investigation to determine if anybody did help her get from point A to point B, knowing that she was wanted by police," said Moore.

Wednesday afternoon and evening, authorities received two separate reports from citizens who saw a barefoot woman early that morning about a mile east from where Duffy was last seen Tuesday, said Moore.

One man said he saw a handcuffed, shoeless woman wearing a long-sleeved men's shirt at about 6 a.m. in the 600 block of Lower Sunnyslope Road as he was working in an orchard.

Another man told authorities he spoke with a shoeless woman at about 6:15 a.m., and that the woman told him she was trying to avoid a violent boyfriend.

The man told authorities she was not wearing handcuffs when he spoke with her, Moore said.

Deputies began canvassing the area and knocking on doors and found some footprints in the area, said Moore.

At about 8 p.m., a bloodhound tracking dog was brought to the scene and found a trail that led through an irrigation ditch and to the side of the Wenatchee River Bridge nearest the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers. The dog then lost the scent, said Moore.

The Wenatchee River Bridge is about two miles from the Sleepy Hollow Bridge and one mile from where the men reported seeing her.

At Valley Hi, deputies were given permission to enter the home and found a person on the couch hiding under a blanket. The woman gave a false name but eventually revealed herself to be Duffy, Moore said.

Duffy was arrested on suspicion of additional charges of second-degree escape, obstructing and misdemeanor theft for the clothes she was wearing, said Moore.

Jaime Adame: 664-7144

adame@wenworld.com