UPDATE 7:58 pm

Leo Chavez, a convicted murderer who escaped from the Cullman County Detention Center along with three other inmates Thursday evening, has been located and is in police custody.

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On Friday night, law enforcement officers were continuing the search for Leo Chavez, a convicted murderer who escaped from the Cullman County Detention Center along with three other inmates Thursday evening.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for tips leading to the capture of Chavez, 20, who was sentenced in January to two consecutive life sentences, plus 10 years, for the murder of his mother, Adalberta Chavez Ruiz, and his father, Ricardo Santiago Gonzales in Blount County in 2017. The Cullman County Detention Center was holding Chavez for Blount County as he awaited transfer to state prison.

He and the other inmates escaped from the Cullman County Detention Center at 6:33 p.m. Thursday as deputies were engaged in the evening shift change. 

According to Sheriff Matt Gentry, the inmates escaped through an air vent beside the showers. Making their way through the building, they found a brick and metal wall managing to kick their way through and jumping from the second floor. Gentry said one escapee, Justin Long, broke his foot from the jump.

“They have 24 hours a day, seven days a week to think about how to try to do anything to get out,” said Gentry. 

A nearby resident saw the four men crossing the parking lot and within minutes of their escape had called 911. Deputies and Cullman Police Department officers set up a perimeter in the area while deputies inside the facility conducted a head count. 

“We can’t thank the community enough for their hard work in this case,” said Gentry. “Three minutes after their escape, we were getting 911 calls from residents.”

Two of the escapees, Tyler Dooley and Long, were back in custody within an hour of escaping.

Dooley, of Arab, was incarcerated waiting trial on murder charges in the death of Levi Benjamin Lawrence, 24, of Cullman. Long was in the detention center on a federal hold.

Officers from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), several sheriff’s offices and police departments and the U.S. Marshall’s Service have been involved in the search for the missing inmates.

Escapee Robert Alan Peak, who was incarcerated on drug charges, was captured near Berlin early Friday morning after police spotted him driving a stolen F-350 truck pulling a trailer. Officers pursued the truck for about 25 minutes along US 278 before using spike strips to stop him.

Earlier, officers got information that a 2004 blue Corvette had been stolen from a neighborhood near the detention center. When officers spotted the vehicle, which they believe was driven by Chavez, they got into a chase that went in and out of Blount and Cullman counties until officers lost sight of the vehicle in Blount County. The Corvette was recovered Friday afternoon in Blount County in an area past Holly Pond.

Gentry said that while they suspect Chavez was the one who stole the car, without confirmation they are continuing to do a broad search. Gentry said he considers Chavez to be armed and dangerous, based on the murders he was convicted of. 

Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon said, “We have deputies that responding to multiple calls to 911.” He said they had a tip Friday morning about a possible sighting at a gas station they were following up on. “We are diligently pouring over our community,” said Moon.

Anyone who sees Chavez is asked to call the Cullman County Sheriff’s office at 256-734-0342 or call 911.