Search Under Way For Two Juveniles Teens Escape From Twin Falls Detention Center

A regionwide search was under way on Friday for two juveniles who escaped from the year-old Snake River Juvenile Detention Center in Twin Falls - one using a bible stuffed inside a pillowcase to bludgeon a guard.

Center officials said law enforcement agencies throughout the Magic Valley were involved in the hunt for John Jones, 15, of Kimberly and Lindsay Mullins, 14, of Twin Falls.

Jones, Mullins and two other teenagers stole money and a car after getting free of their detention areas early Thursday morning and then rammed the gates at the facility’s entrance to flee.

Police recaptured Levi Seal, 17, of Twin Falls, when the youths lost control of their getaway car and hit a fence in Twin Falls. Jesse Salas, 15, of Jerome, was arrested Thursday afternoon at a friend’s house.

The rampage began shortly after midnight when Salas pretended to have an upset stomach and asked a staffer to let him use the bathroom.

When guard Claudene Shewfelt opened the door, Salas shoved it against her and ran. Jones followed, pulling the door closed and locking her in the room, officers said.

Salas then butted his head into the face of guard Samuel Sites, police said, and Jones proceeded to beat Sites with the pillowcase containing the Bible and a novel about juvenile delinquency.

Sites fell to the floor under the blows and was finally dragged into a shower stall, police said. Later, he was treated for a bloody nose and possible concussion.