OHIO — The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) is still looking for a man who escaped from an Ohio prison over 50 years ago, according to a spokesperson with the USMS Northern District of Ohio.
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Lester Eubanks, 81, escaped from the Ohio State Penitentiary in 1973 while serving a life sentence for the death of 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener.
The USMS worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to release age progression photos of Eubanks.
The spokesperson said the original image was completed in August 2019, but the USMS Cold Case Unit and NCMEC have been updating it since then.
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The USMS hopes the updated photos lead to new tips from the public, according to the spokesperson.
Eubanks killed Deener on Nov. 14, 1965, while she was walking to the laundromat.
The spokesperson said Eubanks was out on bond at the time for an attempted rape.
A jury found Eubanks guilty of murder while perpetrating rape on May 25, 1966. He was sentenced to death for his crimes two days later.
Eubanks’ sentence was commuted to life in prison while he was serving his time at the Ohio State Penitentiary in 1972.
Less than two years after the sentence modification, Eubanks was placed in the Ohio Corrections Medical Center and given an “honor assignment,” which allowed him outside of the prison walls.
Eubanks escaped prison while on assignment on Dec. 7, 1973, and hasn’t been seen since, the spokesperson said.
The case was turned over to the USMS Cold Case Unit in northern Ohio in 2016.
“Since then, the USMS has followed up on hundreds of leads and conducted dozens of interviews not only throughout the country, but internationally as well,” the spokesperson said.
Eubanks was officially listed as a USMS 15 Most Wanted Fugitive 45 years after his escape on Dec. 7, 1973. There is a reward of up to $50,000 available for information leading to his location.
The spokesperson said Eubanks was last seen in southern California in the late 1970s and was using the alias “Victor Young.” It is also believed that he was a janitor at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood in the late 1980s to early 1990s.
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