JAIL Escapees Elude Manhunt

A possible sighting of two escapees from the Logan County Detention Center led to a manhunt Monday in Sebastian County, but the escapees were not apprehended. Shortly after noon Monday, the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office received a report that two men resembling escapees Billy Gene Farris, 22, and Dennis Paul Isom, 27, had been seen walking in the Dayton community. Deputies began canvassing the area, and at 1:11 p.m. a deputy saw two men run into the woods in the area of East Clarks Chapel Road and Dickson Road, authorities said. Officers with the Sebastian and Logan county sheriff’s offices, the Mansfield and Huntington police departments and the Arkansas State Police searched the area with the aid of bloodhounds provided by the juvenile wilderness camp at Mansfield, but by 4 p.m. the men had not been located, and the search was called off, said Maj. Steve Creek of the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities are “pretty sure” the men were Farris and Isom, Logan County Sheriff Mark Limbird said. Isom was born and raised in the area, he said. “That’s probably why he was able to get away from them today. He can operate easily in that environment, because he knows everything. He knows how to get around.” Farris and Isom, both of Booneville, escaped Sunday from the jail in Paris by cutting through a chain link fence in an exercise yard, authorities said previously. Limbird said investigators suspect they may have had help in getting away from the area. At the time of their escape, Farris was awaiting transfer to an Arkansas Department of Correction facility to serve time for parole violation, and Isom was in jail for theft of property, authorities said. Farris is described as a white male, 6-foot-6 and 180 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Isom is described as a white male, 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, with reddish-blond hair and green eyes. The men were wearing black-and-white-striped jail clothes when they escaped, but they probably have changed clothes since then, Limbird said. Creek said one of the men who ran into the woods Monday was wearing a white shirt and gray pants. The other man was wearing a red shirt; no description of his pants was available. Residents of the area are advised to keep their doors locked and contact authorities if they see anything suspicious, Creek said.