Two murder suspects and a third man escaped from a southeast Missouri county jail, according to the Associated Press.
The escape occurred Monday around 11:30 p.m. at the Butler County Jail in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Authorities say Matthew Brandon Cook, Kade Reaves Stringfellow and Rodney Joe Green reportedly escaped through the ceiling. Authorities are conducting a frantic search to locate and apprehend the escapees by using airplanes from the Missouri State Highway Patrol to aid with the search.
"With the severity of their crimes they were being held for, we do believe it's possible they may have the capability to get their hands on weapons," 911 Director for Butler County Frank Casteel told reporters.
Casteel underscored the prisoners were considered armed and dangerous. All three inmates are awaiting trials.
Cook, 29, "is one of two men charged with first-degree murder, robbery and other crimes in the Feb. 19 killing of Sean Crow, 34, of Bernie,., in a McDonald's parking lot in Advance, Missouri," according to the AP.
Stoddard County deputy Hank Trout said Cook sent a text message to the victim using the cellphone of a woman they both knew, asking Crow to meet at the restaurant. Crow was found slumped over in his pickup truck the next day, dead of a single shot to the head from a .22-caliber pistol. Surveillance video helped lead police to Cook and a man who was with him, the AP reported
Stringfellow is charged with second-degree murder in the July 2012 death of his infant son, Karson.
"Green is facing multiple charges for allegedly breaking into a rural Butler County home in February, holding a husband and wife at gunpoint then shooting them after a struggle before getting away with their pickup truck. Both survived and Green was ultimately captured days after the burglary when Green's car struck a utility pole and a tree," the AP reported.
