Two Catahoula Parish inmates &045;&045; one convicted of armed robbery and the other of attempted murder &045;&045; were at large on Thursday and believed to be in the New Orleans area, authorities said.

Authorities believe Jeremy Todd, 26, of 1200 Eagle Lake Drive in Slidell, and Justin Lovett, 23, of 44 John Loop St. in Livingston, Texas, walked away from grass-cutting duties on jail property in Harrisonburg and got in a car with two women in what authorities suspect was a planned pickup.

The escape took place Monday but was not made public until state police had joined the search and sent a news release on Thursday.

Todd and Lovett were dropped off in McComb, where officers discovered their prison overalls, and the women returned to Catahoula Parish where they were arrested, State Police Sgt. Mike Neal said Thursday night.

Neal said he was not sure how Catahoula authorities identified the women as suspects. He did not know the women’s names or what they were booked with.

Todd is a 5-foot-9-inch 155-pound white male with short brown hair. Lovett is a white male with short brown hair, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. They were last spotted wearing white T-shirts and blue jeans.

The two inmates were trusties at the jail, which generally means they had behaved well enough since being jailed that authorities believed there was minimal risk in allowing them to perform maintenance work in unsecured areas.

Neal, however, said he would nonetheless consider Todd and Lovett dangerous. ”Based on their records, I think it’s fairly obvious,” he said.

State police said anyone who sees the escapees should avoid them and immediately call local authorities who could quickly respond.

Neal said authorities suspected Todd and Lovett were in the New Orleans area based on several interviews with people familiar with the pair. Todd once had a listed address in Slidell and has family in the New Orleans area, Neal said.

Todd was in jail for armed robbery and Lovett was convicted of attempted second-degree murder.

Anyone with information should call the Catahoula Sheriff’s Office at (318)-744-5411.