Search On For Two Escapees From Union Parish

FARMERVILLE, La. (AP) — Two state Department of Corrections prisoners escaped from the Union Parish Detention Center over the weekend.

Union Sheriff Dusty Gates identified the two as 36-year-old Thomas Kinnaird Jr., of Ruston, and 39-year-old Benjamin Morana, of Junction City.

The News-Star reports that, as of the sheriff's last update Sunday night the two remained at large.

Gates said he was told that the prisoners were in their cells at 6 p.m. He said they escaped, apparently over the prison fence, sometime between 6 p.m. and shortly before 9 p.m.

Sheriff's deputies, Farmerville police, DOC officers and the U.S. Marshal's Office are participating in the search for the two men.