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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Escape Tunnel Discovered Under State Reformatory

From Staff And Wire Reports

The discovery of some loose screws led officials at the state reformatory here to a tunnel that inmates apparently planned to use in an escape attempt.

The inmates chipped through 6 inches of concrete floor and then dug down 11 feet before apparently digging horizontally, prison superintendent Ken DuCharme said. How far the horizontal shaft goes wasn’t immediately known, because soil was too loose to send someone down safely. Officials planned to lower a camera to take a look, he said.

The tunnel was discovered about 4 p.m. Thursday when a maintenance worker noticed loose screws on a wall plate in the print shop’s darkroom, DuCharme said.