The search for three dangerous prison escapees escalated Tuesday, with law enforcement agencies combing the prison environs and checking contacts the inmates may have had with friends and family on the outside.
Meanwhile, corrections officials ordered the Utah State Prison "locked down" while investigators tried to determine how the inmates could thwart a triple security system and scale two razor-topped fences.Prison guards first realized Robert M. Larkin, 26, Robert L. Smith, 21, and Matthew Monitz, 19, were missing after the trio failed to appear for an 8:30 p.m. headcount at the Oquirrh Medium-Security Facility on the southwest side of the prison. They were last seen at a 5:30 p.m. roll call, but officials think the three fled sometime between 7:30 and 8 p.m.
The escape is baffling and worrisome to prison officials, who said they intend to find out how it happened and prevent it from happening again.
"This points out that the security systems we have in place are not enough," said South Point warden Scott Carver. "Inmates work 24 hours a day to beat the system."
Corrections spokesman Jack Ford said that the existing security system included two rows of fences lined with razor-laced barbed wire. "In between the fences is a no-man's area complete with underground pressure sensors and a microwave signal designed to detect motion and activate the prison's alarm system," he added.
Investigators discovered traces of blood in a field at the southwest corner of the prison yard, indicating that one of the inmates may have cut himself while scaling the fence. Also, two shirts were found in the vocational training area on prison property outside the more secure facilities.
According to Carver, a preliminary investigation indicates that the prisoners had somehow reached an Oquirrh area building that was off-limits to them. They apparently scaled a chain link fence, got onto a roof on the southwest corner and then climbed down a conduit, Carver said.
Once they hit the ground, they probably climbed the razor wire fence, where one of them was cut, Carver said.
Carver said the guard tower on the southwest corner of the prison was not manned partly because it was being remodeled and partly because of a gap in staffing.
"Obviously, an escape is the worst thing that can happen; we take it very seriously," Carver said, vowing to correct any deficiencies.
Dozens of officers from the Utah County Sheriff's Office, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, Utah Highway Patrol and the Department of Corrections along with dog teams scoured the mostly rural area in southwest Salt Lake County throughout the night, concentrating the search in the Jordan Narrows.
The dog teams were called off for a rest at 4 a.m. and replaced with fresh teams from the Gunnison Prison facility at 6 a.m.
The missing inmates were likely unarmed at the time of the escape but may try to acquire weapons, Ford said. All three were serving sentences for armed robbery. They were restricted to the prison, and none have scheduled parole dates.
Ford said investigators are reviewing the inmates' recent phone calls for possible leads as well as contacting their families and friends.
Larkin, Smith and Monitz are the first prisoners to flee the Draper facility since inmate Keith LaMar Shepherd escaped in 1992. Shepherd was caught three months later by police in Sparks, Nev.