(NewsNation) — A massive manhunt continued for seven of 10 Louisiana escaped inmates more than a day after their breakout, but the longer it takes investigators to track them down, the harder it may be to capture them.
“Timing is everything” for manhunts, Kenneth Gray, a former FBI special agent and distinguished lecturer at the University of New Haven, told NewsNation.
As time goes on, escapees have “more of a chance to get farther away or get assistance, so early search is essential to be able to try to round up as many of these guys as possible,” he said.
The Orleans Justice Center was placed on lockdown Friday after 10 inmates escaped from the jail.
According to NewsNation local affiliate WGNO, the inmates were discovered missing during a headcount around 8:30 a.m. and are believed to have escaped around midnight.
The media were not told of the escape until around 10:50 a.m. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on X that there will be an investigation into what happened and called the delay “unacceptable.”
“It’s all hands on deck. The first priority in any escape must be the immediate capture of the inmates and coordination with state and local law enforcement — but that effort cannot come at the expense of timely notification to the public,” she said.
Three of the ten have been recaptured as of early Saturday morning.
Kendell Myles, 20, Robert Moody, 21, and Dkenan Dennis, 24 were all found Friday.
Gray said whenever there is a manhunt, investigators have to get logistics together quickly but that there are several steps that may need to be taken, which adds to the clock.
Investigators might require assistance from other agencies or need to gather resources such as canines or drones, he said.
“It does take some time to gather up those assets, set up a command post and start gritting out the area to be able to direct search teams to specific locations,” Gray said.
“It has to be planned pretty quickly, and it’s fluid,” he noted.
There is an immediacy of the search in the area, he said, but there is also an investigative stage that utilizes information that is already held by law enforcement, such as home and family addresses and other familiar areas, which are checked.
Authorities warned that anyone assisting the escapees will face charges.
Victims or witnesses from the trials of any of the inmates are also being asked to call the police so they can get protection if needed.
NewsNation’s Jordan Perkins and Steph Whiteside contributed to this report.