A Durango man who escaped from the La Plata County Jail more than a week ago remained on the loose Thursday, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The escape occurred about 5:30 p.m. Dec. 27 when Elias Buck, 22, found an opening in the jail’s infrastructure behind the kitchen and fled on foot, according to a previous interview with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.
It was the same location where inmate Jonah Barrett-Lesko escaped Sept. 21, law enforcement said.
“Often times after an escape, an area is saturated to try and locate an individual,” the release said. “Local resources, both city police and sheriff’s deputies, responded after the Buck escape.”
After failing to locate Buck, law enforcement is, in part, relying on the public to report any sightings, the release said.
The Sheriff’s Office released a second photo of Buck on Thursday.
The Sheriff’s Office declined to release additional details about the escape, saying doing so would present a safety risk.
“I want to keep your readers safe and our public safe, and for those reasons I'm not able to release that info,” said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chris Burke.
The Sheriff’s Office said it believes Buck remains in the Four Corners, but Burke declined to elaborate on why investigators believe that to be the case.
Buck was serving as a trustee at the time of his escape. Trustees are entrusted to perform certain jobs around the jail to earn “good time.”
He had been in jail since Dec. 7 on suspicion of motor vehicle theft “and has a lengthy criminal history for crimes in multiple jurisdictions,” according to the release.
Anyone with information about Buck’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 382-7553 or Durango Crime Stoppers at 247-1112.
shane@durangoherald.com
