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| Reward, tip line announced in escapee case |
| By San Antonio Express-News |
| Published: 08/16/2004 |
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Federal authorities are hoping $50,000 will persuade someone to give up the whereabouts of five inmates who escaped last week from the privately operated Frio County, Texas, Jail. LaFayette Collins, U.S. marshal for the Western District of Texas, said at a news conference last week that it is offering rewards of $10,000 apiece for information leading to the recapture of the former jail residents, who slipped to freedom Aug. 6 through holes cut in two perimeter fences. He also announced a 24-hour, toll-free telephone line for people to call in tips, 1-866-550-1717. Collins said the identities of callers will be kept confidential and anonymous tips also will be followed up. As investigators continue to probe how the inmates escaped, they said the rewards and tip line could help garner new leads because the trail for the fugitives has grown cold. "We consider these individuals extremely dangerous and want to get them back into Marshals Service custody as soon as possible," Collins said, flanked by a representative of the FBI, which along with Texas Rangers and Drug Enforcement Administration, is helping in the search. "While our joint investigation continues into the matter of the escape, we are hopeful that by offering a significant reward, new leads will be developed leading to the immediate arrest of these dangerous felons." The fugitives have been identified as Manuel de la Fuente, 33; Jorge Arturo Castañeda Silva, 23; Luis Angel Garcia Esparza, 23; Victor Hugo Nava Franco, 28; and Reymundo Alaniz Flores, 46. They were in the custody of the Marshals Service's Southern District, which stretches from Houston to Laredo, but were placed at the lockup in Pearsall, which is in the Western District, because it had room to spare, authorities said. All were awaiting court hearings on federal counts ranging from drug-trafficking to immigration charges and probation violations. Alaniz had done several prison stints, court records show, and was sentenced in 1979 to 50 years in state prison for a murder in Webb County. Collins also said the escape probe continues, including interviewing - and re-interviewing - jail officers to see what they know. No determination has been made on whether the inmates - who are said to have ties to the Texas Mexican Mafia gang - had help inside or outside the lockup, or both. "We suspect everything and everybody at this point," Collins said. "Until we get further information, we can't say anything about that." He said investigators believe the inmates used wire cutters to bolt to freedom through the fences, but it was not clear who may have provided the tools. Collins said a pair of wire cutters was inside the jail's "tool area." "We recovered wire cutters. Whether they were the ones used, we don't know," Collins said. "We got those to compare them with the clippings from the fence to determine if they were the ones that were used, but we don't have the results back yet." Some officials have said the fugitives may have fled to Mexico, but Collins said, "We have no information that would lead us to believe that exclusively." Meanwhile, the Sarasota, Fla.-based company that runs the jail under contract, Correctional Services Corp., has refused to publicly explain the foul-up, ordering its local officials to turn down media interviews and not returning numerous calls seeking comment. After the escape, the Marshals Service's Southern District yanked the remaining 240 federal inmates it had in custody from the jail and transferred them elsewhere. That led to CSC laying off half of its 50 officers. |
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