Pinups hid jail escape plans

ELIZABETH, N.J., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A pair of New Jersey jail inmates used pictures of bikini-clad women to hide holes they used to escape from their cells, prosecutors said.

Jose Espinosa, 20, and Otis Blunt, 32, escaped Saturday, leaving behind a note reading, "Thank you officer -------- for the tools needed, you're a real pal, Happy Holidays," CNN reported.

Union County prosecutor Ted Romankow said the pair used a wire to scrape out mortar between cinder blocks, creating an 18-inch hole through which they escaped. As they worked, they hid the damage behind pictures of bikini-clad women, reminiscent of a scene in the 1994 movie, "The Shawshank Redemption," and then left dummies made of sheets and pillows in their beds to delay discovery, Romankow said.

Espinosa is facing a sentence for manslaughter, and Blunt had been held on weapons and robbery charges.

An $8,000 reward has been offered for the fugitives' capture.