NEW ORLEANS >> Three days after a 10 men escaped a New Orleans jail by slipping through a hole behind a toilet and scaling a wall, seven remain on the run Monday, and up to $20,000 in rewards was being offered for information leading to the capture of each escapee.

The FBI on Sunday increased its reward amount from $5,000 to $10,000 per escapee, while the CrimeStoppers reward was increased from $2,000 to $5,000, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was offering $5,000.

FBI Special Agent Jonathan Trapp said during a news conference that he believes members of the public may be helping them and, if that’s the case, would be arrested on charges of aiding or abetting them.

The men range in age from 19 to 42 and face a variety of charges including aggravated assault, domestic abuse battery and murder. While three men were quickly caught, a multiagency task force has been assembled to scour the region for the seven remaining fugitives.

A law enforcement photograph obtained by The Associated Press shows the opening through which the men escaped. Above the hole are scrawled messages that include “To Easy LoL” with an arrow pointing at the gap.

Friday’s escape is drawing intense scrutiny and criticism. It took hours for sheriff’s officials to realize the men had escaped and then more time still to alert New Orleans police, even though some missing men are accused of violent offenses and they escaped into a neighborhood less than 2 miles from the city’s famous French Quarter.

“Someone clearly dropped the ball and there’s no excuse for this,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on X.

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, who said he prosecuted one person who escaped, told New Orleans news station WWL-TV he was “angry.”

“This is absurd,” he said. “I don’t understand how it is feasible that it could have occurred.”

Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said the men were able to get out of the Orleans Justice Center because of “defective locks,” and possibly with help from people inside her department.

“It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help,” she said Friday of the jail where 1,400 people are being held.

Hutson said she has repeatedly raised concerns about the locks and again this week pushed for funding to fix jail infrastructure.

Surveillance footage, shared with media during a news conference, showed the escapees sprinting out of the facility — some wearing orange clothing and others in white. They scaled a fence, using blankets to protect themselves from barbed wire.