The deputy was checking inmates off a list during dinner at about 6 p.m. when he discovered Juan Carlos Diaz-Arevalo, 27, and Danny Martin Gallegos, 49, missing, said Sheriff Rick Ellsworth.

Jail officials believe the men, wearing gray prison jumpsuits, took off at about 2:30 p.m. They haven't been seen since.

The men and some of the 12 inmates in their pod were in an outdoor courtyard during an hour-long recreation break between 2 and 3 p.m., when they managed to slip through an unlocked back door to get outside and scale a 14-foot fence covered in razor wire to reach the roof, Department of Corrections Director Tom Patterson said. They dashed across the roof and jumped about 16 feet off the west side of the building to freedom, he said.

Deputies reviewed surveillance tape and discovered security footage of a fence shaking around 2:30 p.m., the only tangible evidence of the escape, Patterson said. Cameras on the west side of the jail did not record properly, he said. Ellsworth said he hoped prisoners would be more "forthcoming" as interviews continue but had no solid leads as to where the escapees went.

Patterson toured the jail with Ellsworth for an hour and a half Tuesday. Both men are under fire for their handling of the escape.

Manila residents are furious with Ellsworth for failing to notify them about the escape Sunday, and victims of the families are angry that they learned about the escape from the media rather than the Department of Corrections.

"I feel extremely upset that we didn't notify families sooner," Patterson said as he walked out of the jail Tuesday. "I'm grateful the media covered this, but my preference would have been to notify them ourselves."

Patterson said he also learned of the escape from the media, by reading newspapers online about 4:45 a.m. Monday.

Ellsworth on Tuesday defended his department's handling of the escape, saying deputies did an "adequate job."

Ellsworth said he told the Department of Corrections inmate placement director, Brad Berry, about the escape about 10 p.m. Sunday while attending a conference in St. George. But nobody in St. George passed the word up to DOC administrators, Patterson said.

"It was one of those things - 'If I know, they must know,' " Patterson said.

Patterson discovered yet another security concern at the jail Tuesday when he learned a maximum-security prisoner, Anthony James Montoya, had been housed at the jail since Sept. 14 against DOC policy. He expected Montoya to be transferred to the Utah State Prison in Draper on Tuesday night. Ellsworth said he was unaware he had a maximum-security prisoner in his jail.

About 30 officers from the Department of Corrections and surrounding jurisdictions helped Daggett County's six patrol deputies scour the mountainous countryside around Manila looking for Diaz-Arevalo and Gallegos on Tuesday.

Diaz-Arevalo had served one year for killing his ex-girlfriend, 22-year-old Lindsey Rae Fawson, in 2005. He was sentenced to seven years to life in prison. Diaz-Arevalo, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, is a gang member and drug dealer who returned to the United States after he was deported on gun charges, prosecutors said.

Gallegos admitted to killing 18-year-old Tammy Syndergaard in 1990 in South Salt Lake. He was denied parole in 2005, when his next hearing was scheduled for 2025.

SWAT teams went door-to-door, checking vacation homes that typically are vacant this time of year, and Daggett County Commissioner Henry Gutz helped search from the skies in a Department of Public Safety airplane.

"We're not stalled out; we've developed some really promising leads," Daggett County sheriff's Sgt. Bryan Smith said. "These guys have been kicking in doors, entering houses where there might be convicted murderers. We've covered miles and miles of rough terrain."

Deputies are searching the "vast, rugged" area of Wyoming between State Road 34 to the south and Henrys Fork River to the north where the jail's last escapee, Wayne Kenneth Sanchez, eluded police, Ellsworth said. Sanchez, a Wyoming sex offender who faced kidnapping and drug charges, escaped in 2005, making it to Green River, Wyo., before hitching a ride to his hometown of Rawlings, Wyo. Police arrested him in Rawlings four days later.

Sunday's escape happened around the same time a group of minimum-security prisoners entered the main building through a back door on their way to church services, Patterson said. Ellsworth declined to discuss specifics of the escape, citing an ongoing investigation. But a knowledgeable source said Sanchez used the same fence post to climb to the roof in 2005.

Ellsworth said more razor wire would be added to the fence post, along with other "changes in procedure."

Patterson said a number of break-downs contributed to the escape. He said guards did not do a good enough job supervising, a technical glitch allowed the back door to remain open and security cameras were not up to snuff.

Ellsworth said he did not expect a change in manpower for the jail, but Patterson said having one sworn officer guarding nearly 120 inmates "was a problem." Patterson said inmates would remain on lock-down until the county addresses security concerns he has

Ellsworth, who took office in January, is under fire from Manila residents angry they were not told of the escape on Sunday.

Mike Newell, who lives within 1,000 feet of the jail and serves on the county's volunteer search-and-rescue team, said he learned of the escape when his father called Monday morning after seeing a news report on TV. His father lives in Montana.

"Nobody called, nobody knocked on my door," said Newell, who was working on his farm Sunday across the street from the jail. "I don't care that [prisoners] are there, but when someone escapes, and they don't call me, that's what pisses me off . . .. I'm on search and rescue. They have my number." Ellsworth said his deputies called local LDS Church leaders and others to spread the word about the escape.

"No one was left out intentionally," Ellsworth said. "It wasn't a 'just-notify-the-Mormons' kind of thing."

Smith said he called "anyone I could think of" to spread the word locally while coordinating a manhunt. He did not notify the media. Smith said he would have done the same thing if he had to do it over again. rrizzo@sltrib.com

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* ERIN ALBERTY contributed to this story.