Source: US Marshals Service
Cleveland, OH – U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio Pete Elliott is releasing new information in the cold case fugitive investigation into one of the agency’s 15 Most Wanted fugitives.
Lester Eubanks, 81, who escaped from an Ohio prison in 1973, was added to the USMS 15 Most Wanted fugitives list in 2016.
While investigating this fugitive case, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) on an age progression photo of Eubanks. The original age progression photo was completed in August 2019. Over the past several months the USMS Cold Case Unit has again been working alongside NCMEC on meticulously updating age progression pictures of what Eubanks may look like today.
The USMS is hopeful that an updated age progression photo may lead to new tips from the public.
On Nov. 14, 1965, 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener was walking to the laundromat to help her family with laundry when she was brutally murdered by Eubanks. When Eubanks committed the horrific offense against Deneer, he was out on bond for an attempted rape which had occurred only three months prior. On May 25, 1966, a jury found Eubanks guilty of murder while perpetrating a rape, and two days later he was sentenced to death for his crimes.
In 1972, while Eubanks was serving his time at the Ohio State Penitentiary, his sentence was commuted to life in prison rather than the original sentence of death. Less than two years after the sentence modification, Eubanks was placed in the Ohio Corrections Medical Center and given the privilege of an honor assignment which allowed him outside the prison walls. During that assignment, on Dec. 7, 1973, Eubanks escaped and has not been seen by authorities since.
The USMS Cold Case Unit in northern Ohio has been diligently working to locate Eubanks since 2016 when the case was turned over for investigation. 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. On Dec. 7, 2018, exactly 45 years after his escape, Eubanks was officially listed as a USMS 15 Most Wanted Fugitive with a reward available of up to $50,000 for information leading to his location.
Eubanks was last seen in southern California in the 1970s and was using the alias of “Victor Young.” Eubanks was known to be in the areas of Gardena, South Central, Long Beach and North Hollywood. It is also believed that Eubanks was working as a janitor at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California, in the late 80s or early 90s.
A reward of up to $50,000 is available to anyone who provides information that leads to the location of Eubanks and the closure of this decades-long case.
“Fifty-nine years ago Lester Eubanks was sentenced to death for the vicious murder of Mary Ellen Deener,” Elliott said, “and even after 59 years the U.S. Marshals Service will not give up on this case until Eubanks is found, justice can finally be served, and Mary Ellen’s family can rest.”
Anyone with information concerning a wanted fugitive can contact the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at 1-866-4-WANTED (1-866-492-6833), or you can submit a web tip. Reward money is available, and tipsters may remain anonymous. Follow the U.S. Marshals on X (formerly Twitter) @USMSCleveland.
The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force Teams & Specialized Units– Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Lorain, Mansfield, Painesville, Toledo, Youngstown, Sex Offender Investigations, Missing Child Unit and Cold Case Unit.