2nd Detainee Still At Large

Published 5:23 pm Tuesday, April 30, 2013

FARMVILLE – One of two escapees from the Immigration Centers of America-Farmville detention facility remains at large.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) public affairs officer, Brandon Montgomery, told The Herald on Tuesday, however, that “no additional information on (his) whereabouts is available.”

Two men escaped last Monday, April 22, one re-arrested the next day.

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Montgomery identified the second detainee, still at large, as Joel Isiah Fuentes, of Belize, described as 36 years old, six-feet two inches, and weighing 150 pounds.

“ICE officials are asking for the public's help in identifying the whereabouts of Joel Fuentes, of Belize,” Montgomery stated in an email last Tuesday, April 23.

“Fuentes has a previous criminal conviction for a non-violent offense,” Montgomery stated at that time.

But Montgomery had stressed then, “The public is reminded that no one should attempt to apprehend Fuentes but should instead call (the) local ICE office at 202-345-5635 or the national tip line by dialing 1-866-DHS-2ICE.”

The detainee rearrested last week less than a mile outside the Town of Farmville's corporate limits was reportedly, with regard to footwear, only wearing socks on his feet. The second detainee was apparently wearing shoes and a local law enforcement officer expressed a purely personal opinion on Monday that the second escapee is likely no longer in the Farmville area.

The two men had escaped on April 22, wearing navy blue jumpers, by “climbing over the fence surrounding the recreation yard and then under the gate on the west side of the facility during an outdoor recreation period,” Montgomery explained last week.

ICE Fugitive Teams were searching for the remaining detainee and following leads, according to what Montgomery announced last week.

Local and state law enforcement officials, by law, must leave the apprehension up to ICE, unless a subsequent crime is committed and they are not involved in the search.