3 Missouri inmates escape after cutting holes in jail cell ceilings: reports

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Three inmates in Missouri who escaped a county jail through holes they cut in their cell ceiling on Friday remain on the run and "should be considered armed and dangerous," according to authorities and local reports.

Inmates Lance Justin Stephens, Matthew Allen Crawford and Christopher Allen Blevins broke out of the Barry County Jail during the early morning hours and were likely no longer in the area, the Barry County Sheriff’s Office said. The case has been turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The escapees climbed through the holes they carved in the plaster ceiling of the jail cells and left through a maintenance door, Sheriff Danny Boyd told ABC News. Boyd said two of the inmates shared a cell, while the third was in a cell just feet away.

All three men likely escaped across state lines to Kansas, Boyd told KY3-TV.

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"The night that they escaped, there was a farm truck out on Y highway that ended up being stolen," the sheriff said. "It’s the same time period that they got out, and they recovered that truck yesterday over in Kansas."

Lance Justin Stephens, 29, Matthew Allen Crawford, 29, and Christopher Allen Blevins, 37, escaped from the Barry County Jail in Missouri early Friday and may have left the state, authorities said.  (Barry County Sheriff's Office)

Stephens, 29, had been booked on drug charges and unlawful use of a weapon, according to online jail records. Crawford, 29, had been arrested on charges of theft, while Blevins, 37, had been held on multiple drug charges.

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Authorities asked anyone with information on the suspects’ whereabouts or where they are heading to contact the sheriff's office and tips will be passed to the U.S. Marshals.