Christopher A. Cornelius, 37, and Matthew William Johnson, 29, both escaped a the Community Corrections Center, located in Louisville, Ky., on Monday.
The corrections office said the duo had escaped after they were, "assigned to an interior work detail," according to NBC News. Around 9 p.m., Cornelius and Johnson had tied together several bed sheets and propelled down the side of the almost-four-story building, reported WIKY.
Warrants were issued right away for the capture of both men.
"I do sleep better at night when he is incarcerated than I do when he's out. We have buried several of his friends. One day I'll get that phone call. I don't think he was thinking. If he was thinking he wouldn't have done it," said Johnson's mother, Billie Johnson, reported by WDRB.
However, Johnson's sister, Misti, is just content that her brother is safe and alive. "That much longer that my brother's here on earth and safe. I don't have to worry," she said.
Billie Johnson is concerned about the welfare of heroin addicts in Louisville. Her son has two children and she is now responsible for raising them until he gets his court hearing. She said, "They supply needles for these people, but it's not helping heroin addicts."
Cornelius and Johnson had been booked at the correction center for charges of possession of heroin, said Louisville Metro Department of Corrections. At this time they were considered minimum security inmates.
Cornelius was returned to jail just a few hours after he had escaped and Johnson was retrieved in the early hours on Tuesday.
Both men were obtained early Tuesday, they now have an additional charge for felony escape in their records. However, no details have been released about how the two felons were captured, or how they got injuries that were evaluated by medical staff.
