Louisiana Manhunt for Escaped Inmate Continues

Authorities in Louisiana are searching for a fugitive inmate after two others from a group of three who escaped from a parish jail earlier this week were apprehended or found dead. The breakout occurred on Wednesday at the St. Landry Parish Jail in Opelousas, a city of about 15,000 residents located roughly 130 miles northwest of New Orleans.

The three inmates, Keith Eli, 24, of Opelousas; Johnathan Jevon Joseph, 24, of Opelousas; and Joseph Allen Harrington, 26, of Melville, exploited a deteriorating section of an upper wall in the facility. Over time, they removed mortar between concrete blocks to create an opening large enough to slip through, according to the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office. Once outside, the men used sheets and other items they had smuggled to scale an exterior wall, drop onto a first-floor roof, and lower themselves to the ground.

Eli, who had been held on a second-degree murder charge, remains at large as of Saturday. Sheriff's office spokesman Major Mark LeBlanc told the Associated Press that investigators were pursuing leads to locate him. St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz emphasized the ongoing effort in a statement, saying, "We would...