Authorities are now offering $50,000 for information leading to the apprehension of three men who escaped from a maximum-security jail in Orange County.
This comes amid a flurry of questions about why it took authorities 16 hours to realize the men were missing.
The men escaped from the Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana on Friday, and all three are charged with violent crimes. Hossein Nayeri, 37; Jonathan Tieu, 20; and Bac Duong, 43, were last seen during an inmate count at 5 a.m. local time on Friday.
The Associated Press reports:
“The investigation was focused on suburban communities where the men could be hiding among friends, family or fellow gang members, authorities said Monday, the third full day of the manhunt.
“They looked in particular to Orange County’s huge Vietnamese population, among the largest in the U.S., in Garden Grove and Westminster just a few miles from the Santa Ana jail where Friday’s escape took place.”
Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock told reporters that “investigators believe the inmates moved through plumbing tunnels and ultimately ended up on the roof in an unsecured area where they were able to rappel down to the ground using a makeshift rope. Then they fled on foot,” member station KPCC reports.