By Christina Maxouris, CNN
(CNN) – Authorities in Mississippi are searching for two inmates who escaped from a detention center Monday morning, just over a month after four other men had escaped from the same prison.
Michael Lewis, 31, and Joseph Spring, 31, were discovered missing from the Raymond Detention Center, about 15 miles west of Jackson, following a headcount conducted after an officer noticed items and “what appeared to be blood” near the outside perimeter of the facility. closed, Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said at a news conference.
The officers found that there had been a breach in the ceiling of one of the rooms in the facility and they believe that this is how the two men got out.
“We believe they were able to access an air duct inside the facility, which led to the outside of the facility where they were able to get through a fence and escape,” the sheriff said.
Spring, who had been at the facility since November, was being held for probation and parole violations, theft and also “what appears to be a hold with other agencies,” Jones said.
Lewis had been at the facility since December and was being held on charges related to DUI, possession of marijuana, felony hit and run and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, among others. “We also believe he had contacts with other agencies for his arrest as well,” the sheriff added.
“We have no information at this time as to where these individuals are or where they may have gone after they fled,” Jones told reporters, adding that authorities do not know if they are armed, but that “they have to consider”. dangerous.”
He asked anyone with information to contact law enforcement.
Last month, four more escaped
The breach comes just over a month after the escape of four other men who broke into the same facility and led to a days-long manhunt.
Authorities believe the group climbed onto the roof, camped there and left the property at different times, the sheriff said.
Two of these fugitives were found dead, in Carthage, Mississippi and New Orleans, while the other two were captured: one in Spring Valley, Texas, and the other at a residence in Crystal Springs, Mississippi.
“Here we are once again and I apologize to the people of Hinds County for what I would consider another violation of public safety at our facility,” Jones said at his press conference Monday.
The sheriff said the detention center has had problems since its inception, explaining that it was “poorly constructed” and has continued to deteriorate since then.
“The detainees are finding a way to damage the physical plant itself so they can help them escape the facility,” Jones said.
A new detention center is being built, he said, but there are pressing issues with the existing one that need to be addressed, he said, adding that he is working to address staffing issues in addition to physical issues.
The-CNN-Wire
™ and © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Jennifer Henderson and Amy Simonson contributed to this report.
