Authorities in southeast Missouri are searching for three men who escaped from the Butler Co. jail in Poplar Bluff. Authorities say it appears the three escaped through the jail’s ceiling around 11:30 Monday night. Two of the men are charged with murder and all three are considered to be armed and dangerous.
Frank Casteel, 911 director for Butler County, says, “With the severity of their crimes they were being held for, we do believe it’s possible they may have the capability to get their hands on weapons.”
The Missouri State Highway Patrol is conducting an air search for the escapees.
Matthew Brandon Cook and Kade Reaves Stringfellow face murder charges stemming from separate incidents; Rodney Joe Green is charged with assault and various other crimes.
Cook is charged with first-degree murder for shooting and killing Sean Crow, of Bernie, in a McDonald’s parking lot in Advance. Crow died from a single gunshot wound to the head and was found slumped over in his vehicle.
Stringfellow, of Portageville, is charged with second-degree murder in the July death of his infant son, Karson. Stringfellow had claimed he had slipped and fallen while holding the infant, but doctors at St. Louis Children’s Hospital determined the child had bleeding in the brain and the eyes, multiple ribs fractures and other injuries consistent with abuse.
Green is accused of breaking into a rural Butler County home in February, holding a husband and wife at gunpoint, then shooting them. He allegedly then fled in the couple’s pickup truck, which Green crashed while being chased by police. The victims are recovering from their injuries after being shot, the man in the thigh and his wife in the hand.
Authorities are asking the public to be on the lookout for Cook, Stringfellow and Green and to call 9-11 with any information.