A&E'S HIT REAL-LIFE ORIGINAL SERIES "MANHUNTERS: FUGITIVE TASK FORCE" RETURNS FOR AN ACTION-PACKED THIRD SEASON

SEASON PREMIERES THURSDAY, MARCH 17 AT 10PM ET/PT ON A&E WITH BACK-TO-BACK EPISODES

NEW YORK, NY, MARCH 2, 2011- A&E's hit Real-Life series "Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force" returns to A&E for a third season, featuring the elite US Marshals Fugitive Task Force as they hunt down the most dangerous and elusive fugitives to date. "Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force" premieres Thursday, March 17 at 10PM ET/PT with back-to-back half-hour episodes.

In the 23-episode season, Commander Lenny DePaul and his team hunt down high-profile fugitives week after week. These are the "most wanted" cases from around the country and beyond, taking the "Manhunters" from the streets of New York to beach towns in Florida, rural areas in Georgia, across the country to Arizona and deep into the faraway mountains of Puerto Rico. Since every fugitive presents a unique challenge, Lenny and the team will have to know the fugitives inside and out in order to anticipate their next moves and build a strategy to take each one of them down.

In the premiere episode, Commander DePaul and his Task Force track a fugitive wanted for second-degree rape of a young woman barely out of high school. Deputy Michelle "Michy" Mendez takes this to heart, determined to make sure the woman, who was brave enough to come forward with her story, receives justice. Also, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) Supervisor Tommy Kilbride is put to the test with a case that demands all of his hard-earned skills and instincts. Along with Kilbride, Commander DePaul, Deportation Officer Dennis Carroll and Senior Inspector Mike Romani take on the challenging hunt of a convicted felon who has snuck back into the United States illegally. Raising the stakes, the fugitive appears to be well-funded, possibly armed, and engaged in a massive drug trafficking operation.

Based in the heart of New York City, A&E continues to have unparalleled and unprecedented access, granted by the Department of Justice and the US Marshals, to ride along with the agents of the NY/NJ Task Force, as they track down violent criminals on the run. Since its inception in May 2002, the NY/NJ RFTF has apprehended 45,195 fugitives. The third season of "Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force" will show viewers what drives these dedicated Marshals: family, community, a deep sense of justice, and the common goal of making the world a safer place.

"Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force" is produced for A&E Network by Stars & Stripes Media, Inc. Robert Sharenow and Laura Fleury are executive producers for A&E. Executive Producers are Gary Tarpinian, Stuart Goodman, Vincent Scarza, and Paninee Theeranuntawat. Co-Executive Producers are Sonia Slutsky and Siobhan Walshe.

About A&E Network

A&E is "Real Life. Drama." Now reaching 100 million homes, A&E is television that you can't turn away from; where unscripted shows are dramatic and scripted dramas are authentic. A&E offers a diverse mix of high quality entertainment ranging from the network's original scripted series, including "The Glades," to signature non-fiction franchises, including the Emmy-winning "Intervention," "Dog the Bounty Hunter," "Hoarders," "Billy the Exterminator" and "Storage Wars," and the most successful justice shows on cable, including "The First 48" and "Manhunters." The A&E website is located at www.aetv.com .