Search continues for 2 escaped Indiana inmates

INDIANAPOLIS -- Three inmates who escaped from Indiana State Prison made their way through hundreds of yards of utility tunnels beneath the Civil War-era structure before emerging from a manhole cover on a nearby street, authorities said Tuesday.

The inmates -- two convicted of murder and one of rape -- escaped through the tunnels under the Michigan City prison Sunday morning by breaking through metal bars and gates. They emerged from a manhole on 10th Street, north of the prison, authorities said.

At least two escaped convicts made it to Grand Beach, Mich., eight miles northwest of the prison.

Charles Smith, 48, who was convicted of murder in 1999 and sentenced to 95 years in prison, was caught Monday near the vacation home of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Smith was returned to the maximum-security prison Tuesday.

Grand Beach police believe 46-year-old Mark Booher of New Castle, who was convicted of an Indianapolis murder in 1999, was with Smith in the community along Lake Michigan.

After hours of searching, Indiana State Police called off the manhunt Monday evening. They say they're focusing on new leads and tips to track down Booher and Lance Battreal, 45, a convicted rapist from Rockport.

All three escaped convicts faced at least 30 more years in prison on their sentence when they fled.

Prison officials, who remained tightlipped about their investigation Tuesday, are still trying to determine how the men were able to escape, Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison said. All three were present at a 5 a.m. head count Sunday but gone by a head check five hours later.

Two of the escaped inmates had worked as assistants with maintenance staff at the prison, and authorities are investigating whether they worked in the tunnels and the circumstances of any work.

Prisoners are allowed some movement within their housing unit, Garrison said, and the tunnels run beneath the entire facility, including the housing units.

Staff members at the prison were replacing broken bars and gates in the tunnels. The DOC is looking for ways to increase security in the tunnels and pipe chases, which crisscross beneath the prison that first opened in 1860.

Garrison stressed that officials do not know whether the age of the facility had anything to do with the escape. The tunnels and pipe chases have been beneath the prison since it opened, but the parts of the facility have been upgraded over the years to keep up with security.

"It's an older prison, but it's been kept up," Garrison said.

The escape rattled residents near the prison on the city's west side, an area of older homes that neighbors have worked to revitalize.

Madeline Smrt, who has lived in the neighborhood her whole life, said neighbors locked their doors and stayed inside while police searched the area Sunday. But she is comforted by the idea that the inmates likely want to get far away from her area.

"When they leave the prison, why, I don't think they stay in the neighborhood," she said. "We're careful, but you can't stay in."