Ethermac Exchange-Louisiana authorities search for 2 escaped jail inmates

AMITE,Ethermac Exchange La. (AP) — Four inmates escaped a south Louisiana jail over the weekend and two were still missing Tuesday, authorities said.

Authorities were unaware that four inmates had escaped until a phone call tipped them off, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

The inmates escaped in pairs — the first on Saturday afternoon and the second on Sunday, said Deputy Chief Jimmy Travis at a news conference, WVUE-TV reported. Travis said all four broke through a corroded piece of chain-link fence, crawled under an 8-inch (20-centimeter) gap in a wall, and scaled two razor-wire fences.

Jail authorities learned of two of the escapes Sunday afternoon when a tipster reported seeing two of the inmates at a relative’s house looking for a place to stay.

When deputies began investigating, they found the other two also were missing.

“It’s very concerning. If the proper headcounts had been conducted, we would have known about it immediately,” Travis said. “It’s a failure. We had a failure within.”

Travis cited a lack of supervision, inadequate head counts, manpower shortages and insufficient experience and training as contributing factors.

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“There is no room for complacency,” he said.

Two of the escaped inmates — Travon Johnson, 21, and Avery Guidry, 19 — were found Monday hiding in a trash bin behind a store about 22 miles (35 kilometers) southwest of the jail. That pair had fled the facility on Saturday.

The other pair — Omarion Hookfin, 19, and Jamarcus Cyprian, 20 — remained at large Tuesday. Travis said he believes the two have fled Tangipahoa Parish.

Travis said Hookfin and Cyprian used the same route as the earlier escapees.

Travis said the fences and walls surrounding the jail are maintained regularly, but the portion of fencing the inmates scaled needs more razor wire.

“If I have to go out there and string razor wire, I’ll be happy to do so,” he said.

Johnson, Hookfin and Guidry were arrested following a 2022 home invasion and homicide that left a man dead and wounded a juvenile. Cyprian was in jail on armed robbery and weapons charges. Hookfin also acquired additional charges of aggravated battery while jailed in a separate case in Catahoula Parish, authorities said.

Travis said it’s unclear if jail staff will be disciplined.

The sheriff’s office urged anyone with information on the whereabouts of the remaining escaped inmates to contact emergency authorities or call CrimeStoppers of Tangipahoa’s anonymous tip line at 800-554-5245.