Photos show their escape route

Photos released Friday by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office offer a look at how officials believe 10 inmates escaped from a jail in New Orleans.

The photos appear to show a large, rectangular hole leading outside the cell. The hole, which has some metal bars, is cut behind where a sink and toilet typically sit.

Horizontal bars that should be in the top half of the opening appear to be missing.

It was not immediately clear if the inmates created the opening or if they discovered it and planned an escape around it.

The inmates appeared to have written messages around the opening in the wall, including “To Easy Lol” and “We Innocent.”

Other photos released by officials appear to show the toilet pulled from the wall where it had presumably been attached. Pipes that served the toilet appear to be disconnected.

At an afternoon news conference, Sheriff Susan Hutson said that it was difficult for inmates to escape without outside help and that officials are investigating whether anyone aided the escapees. She later said there is indication the escapees had help from individuals inside the department.

She said that defective locks on jail cells contributed to the escape. Detainees were pulling on the cells, breaking them off their tracks, she said, around 12:23 a.m., when they were able to break open a door.

They escaped after 1 a.m. through the hole in the wall before exiting a door, scaling a wall and running across a major road, Hutson said.

The inmates were discovered to be missing during a routine head count at 8:30 a.m.

One of the men, Kendall Myles, was apprehended Friday by police in the French Quarter after a brief pursuit on foot.

The remaining nine men remain on the run, and officials have said they should be considered armed and dangerous.