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U.S.

Escape from downtown Chicago high-rise jail bears similarities to 1985 break-out

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • Chicago Jail Escape
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    This undated photo provided by the FBI shows , Kenneth Conley, left and Jose Banks two inmates who escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. Chicago Police Sgt. Michael Lazarro says their disappearance was discovered at about 8:45 Tuesday morning. Lazarro says the pair used a rope or bed sheets to climb from the building. (AP Photo/FBI,HOPD) (The Associated Press)

  • e6375da2-Chicago Jail Escape
    Image 2 of 3

    This image provided by the FBI shows the wanted poster for Jose Banks, left, and, Kenneth Conley, two inmates who escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. Chicago Police Sgt. Michael Lazarro says their disappearance was discovered at about 8:45 Tuesday morning. Lazarro says the pair used a rope or bed sheets to climb from the building. (AP Photo/FBI) (The Associated Press)

  • f9f20e27-Chicago Jail Escape
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    A rope dangles from a window on the back side of the Metropolitan Correctional Center Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012, in Chicago. Two convicted bank robbers used a knotted rope or bed sheets to escape from the federal prison window high above downtown Chicago early Tuesday, a week after one of them made a courtroom vow of retribution, to federal judge. The escape occurred sometime between 5 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. when the inmates were discovered missing, Chicago Police Sgt. Mark Lazarro said. Hours later, what appeared to be a rope, knotted at six-foot intervals, could be seen dangling into an alley from a window of the Metropolitan Correctional Center approximately 20 stories above the ground. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) (The Associated Press)

CHICAGO – This week's daring escape from a downtown Chicago jail bore striking similarities to the last time anyone broke out of the high-rise facility, nearly three decades ago.

In that 1985 escape, two convicted murderers broke their cell window and shimmied down the side of the Metropolitan Correctional Center. They had a car waiting to take them to Milwaukee.

Authorities say convicted bank robbers Kenneth Conley and Joseph Banks also broke a window before using a rope made of bed sheets to rappel about 20 stories down the building. The FBI says surveillance footage shows they then caught a cab. They had changed out of their orange jail-issued jumpsuits.

The manhunt for Conley and Banks has expanded, and the FBI is offering a $50,000 reward. Their whereabouts remained unknown early Thursday.