It's been more than a week since 10 inmates at a New Orleans jail escaped, confounding continued efforts by law enforcement to locate them, but it turns out it was part of a well-kept plan.
Now, nine people are in local jails after being a part of helping, transporting, advising and/or sending money to those escapees, according to New Orleans area officials and local news media, who add that there is fear and anger among many residents over the jail breakout and the length of time it's taking to recapture the alleged murderers..
Five of the fugitives have been recaptured, but even with officers in nearby states like Mississippi and Texas assisting in the hunt, Louisiana investigators are still working on leads and watching surveillance cameras closely for clues to the whereabouts of the missing inmates, all five of whom have been charged with second-degree murder.
Investigators say it took seven hours before jailers realized that the ten inmates had used every means possible to get through a wall behind a toilet (leaving behind a note that read, "to easy, LOL") and crawl through very small spaces, then get past alarms and to the outside.
Among those arrested for helping the fugitives are several women and a sheriff's department maintenance worker who may have been key to the escape.
New Orleans law enforcement officials were further embarrassed by Thursday's escape of an inmate from the Tangipahoa Parish jail on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain.
Despite the fact that he was recaptured on Friday, some southeast Louisiana residents have been telling law enforcement officials to "get it together."
And there is even merchandise now: keeping a long tradition of what CNN calls "dysfunctional" humor in the Crescent City, a new t-shirt is expected to sell briskly as it goes on sale with the words, "To easy, LOL" blazing across the front -- the words of the inmate's escape note.