A growing number of New Orleans fugitives' friends and family arrested
for aiding in jail escape
[May 31, 2025]
By JACK BROOK
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The 10 men who escaped from a New Orleans jail more
than two weeks ago by cutting out a hole behind a toilet received help
from at least 14 people, many of them friends and family who provided
food, cash, transport and shelter according to court documents.
Records reviewed by The Associated Press show how some of the fugitives
received aid before and after their escape — including from a number of
people named in police reports but not yet facing charges.
A former jail employee is accused of driving escapee Lenton Vanburen to
a relative's home and helping him FaceTime family the day of the escape,
while another friend later offered him a hiding place in a vacant
apartment he had been hired to repaint.
Others sent money via apps, lied to authorities during interrogation and
messaged or called the fugitives, police say. Some are now held on bonds
$1 million or higher and most face the felony charge of accessory after
the fact.
In a city with an entrenched mistrust of the criminal justice system,
authorities on Thursday raised the reward to $50,000 per fugitive. They
stressed that friends and family are key to capturing the two remaining
escapees, convicted murderer Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey, who
faces kidnapping and rape charges.
“We understand that some of you might be reporting a friend, a loved
one, a relative and albeit not easy, it is critical to your safety and
the safety of the public that you report them,” Jonathan Tapp, special
agent in charge of FBI New Orleans, said Thursday.
Former jail employee appears linked to escape
After the audacious escape in the early hours of May 16, a woman who
police described as “associated” with Groves “picked up” and transported
escapee Vanburen to a relative's residence, the documents show.
She then video-called Vanburen's sisters, who came to meet him.
This woman — who has not been charged with aiding in the escape — shares
the same name as a former Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office employee,
according to court records. In 2023, that employee was arrested for
bringing a folding knife and a bag of Cheetos containing tobacco and
marijuana into the jail.
The charges were dropped in part due to the woman's lack of criminal
history and she “successfully completed” a pretrial diversion program,
the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office told The Associated Press.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office did not respond to request for
comment.
In a text message to an AP reporter, the woman denied bringing in
contraband or aiding fugitives.
Separately, authorities arrested a jail plumber they say helped the men
escape, but his attorney maintains he was just trying to unclog a
toilet.
Phone records aid in arrests
Several escapees, including Massey, relied on internet phone services to
communicate with accomplices and “avoid detection" by not leaving a
trail of cellular signals, police reports say.
Escapee Corey Boyd used an internet phone service to message several
contacts seeking money and access to their iCloud accounts, threatening
to kill one person if they did not comply, court records show.
The FBI reviewed months of calls from Boyd's “top caller” while
incarcerated. They then found a brief call from a new phone number the
night after the escape and used that to help track down Boyd. They
discovered that Boyd’s aunt was messaging him on Instagram to help him
get food as hid in the apartment where a SWAT team captured him May 20.
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This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department on May
26, 2025, shows the arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on
the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police
Department via AP File)
A victim of abuse arrested as accomplice
One of the women accused of helping Massey suffered from years of
physical abuse from him, court records show.
The woman, who had previously filed a protective order against
Massey after he attempted to strangle her, was aware of his planned
escape and later misled authorities, police say.
She exchanged messages with Massey’s 31-year-old sister saying they
hoped he "never gets caught."
Authorities staked out the New Orleans home of Massey’s sister but a
search six days after the escape turned up empty-handed. Police
learned Massey had been inside the home before the raid and altered
and deleted evidence on his sister's phone.
Court records show police accuse Massey's sister of lying to them,
slowing down the manhunt and forcing them to lose “critical days and
hours” in the search.
Authorities appeal to public for help
At least seven of the people facing felony charges for aiding the
fugitives have ties to Lenton Vanburen, Jr. according to
authorities.
After alerting two of his sisters by prison phone in the hours
before his escape, he instructed they contact “my girl” and provide
her with a “clean phone” so the two could communicate.
The woman identified by police as Vanburen's love interest told The
Associated Press she never received the phone and denied involvement
in the escape plans.
Vanburen's sisters met up with him the night of his escape at a
family member's residence where he was able to shower, change
clothes and was given toiletries. Another family member later
reportedly took him to a relative's home in Mississippi.
Vanburen was ultimately captured in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on
Monday and two men arrested this week were accused of helping him
find shelter in a hotel — paid for in cash — and an apartment
undergoing renovation. The Baton Rouge court system had no record of
their legal representation.
In another case, a 59-year-old Louisiana woman is accused of sending
cash to fugitive Jermaine Donald, a family friend, according to her
attorney.
Lindsey Hortenstine, communications director for the Orleans Parish
Public Defenders’ office, said that most of the people arrested in
connection with helping the fugitives have not yet secured
attorneys.
Louisiana State Police Superintendent Colonel Robert Hodges said
tips from friends and family remain essential to locating the
remaining fugitives.
“They’re tired, they’re looking over their shoulder, looking for
resources,” Hodges said. “I think the advantage goes to law
enforcement and we need the public’s help to ensure that we keep
that advantage.”
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