Lester Eubanks is one of the most wanted fugitives by US Marshalls.
Photo: US Marshalls / Courtesy
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One of America’s Most Wanted Fugitives, He’s Now Being Wanted in the Los Angeles Area after escaping from an Ohio prison in 1973, authorities confirmed Saturday.
Lester Eubanks was convicted of murdering 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener in 1966.
He was sentenced to death, but in 1972 his sentence was commuted to life in prison. He was allowed to accompany other inmates on a Christmas shopping trip in December 1973, but did not show up at the designated pickup location and has been on the run ever since, according to him US Marshals Service (U.S. Marshalls Service).
Eubanks is in the list of the 15 most wanted fugitives from the Marshals Service.
After reviewing recently obtained photographs that allegedly show Eubanks working and socializing with people in Los Angeles County, including a former waterbed factory in Gardena, The Marshals Service began focusing its investigation here, reported NBC 4 Los Angeles.
Eubanks could have lived in multiple Los Angeles neighborhoods
Authorities traced this confessed child killer to Southern California and they hope the newly discovered photos will solve the case.
“We believe that he may never have left the greater Los Angeles area,” said United States Deputy Sheriff David Siler, who runs a brigade of open cases focused directly on capturing the convicted murderer.
Eubanks lived and worked in Los Angeles under the name “Victor Young” after his 1973 escape from the Ohio State Penitentiary, where he was serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener.
Investigators believe the fugitive occasionally lived with a woman named Kay Eubanks between 1975 and 1996.
“We’re just waiting for one, one piece of the puzzle that will get us to her doorstep,” Siler said.
Eubanks roamed around, sometimes living in Gardena, South Central, Long Beach, and North Hollywood, in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
It is believed that Eubanks worked as a janitor at St. Francis Hospital in Lynwood.
The Eubanks persecution spans five decades and he remains one of the most wanted men in America, and the bailiffs awarded their highest reward for information leading to his capture, $ 50,000.
“We know he has a footprint there, we know he has partners all over the area, we just need to talk to those people,” Siler said.
The U.S. Marshals are asking anyone with information to call 1-877-WANTED2 (926-8332).
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The more I look at Eubanks pictures the more I see Samual Jackson when I put the pictures beside each other’s. Could Eubanks name be wrong? While watching AMW I took pictures of the AMW since my husband and I do travel. I look out for people when I see someone is being looked for. When I saw Eubanks picture, Jackson came to my mind. So many of Jackson’s pictures looked like Eubanks. My husband laughed at me. It doesn’t hurt to check. Where is Jackson from? I am sorry if I am wrong. I hope it never gets out that I said it.