(NECN/NBC News: Chris Pollone, Orange County, Fla.) – Police say someone filed fake documents granting two convicted murderers early release from a prison in the Florida panhandle.
Roscoe Pugh, an Orange County, Florida man, was murdered in a 1998 home invasion.
His family is stunned to learn that the man who killed him, Joseph Jenkins, is now on the loose.
"Something has to be done," said the victim’s son.
State authorities say Jenkins and another convicted murderer, Charles Walker, were freed from prison within the last month after someone filed forged court documents granting them early release.
"It’s very ingenious, it's a breakout without having to breakout," said Judge Bevlin Perry.
The signature on those forged documents belongs to Judge Belvin Perry. Until now, she was best known as the presiding judge in the Casey Anthony trial.
US marshals, state police, and local police are scrambing to locate the pair as they try to figure out who created the fake release documents and how they were able to fool the corrections department.
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"These individuals have murdered individuals in this community, and we want to bring them back to justice," said Sheriff Jerry Demings of Orange County, Florida.
Prosecutors are also checking to see if any other inmates escaped from prison the same way.
"There an ongoing investigation in terms of looking at what happened and why did this occur in the first place,” Sheriff Demings continued.
Meanwhile, the mother of 1999 murder victim Cedric Slater says her family is terrified to know his killer is back on the streets.
"I couldn't understand how this could take place. How did it happen?" questioned Evangelina Kearse, the victim’s mother.
It's a question many in Florida would like to know the answer to.
