LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — A Lexington County Sheriff's Department incident report states that two teens who left Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) custody while at a mental health facility for over two weeks were seen several times on Sunset Boulevard days before their pictures were released to the public.
A separate report shows that the two originally escaped with a third juvenile from the facility, a 14-year-old who returned shortly after.
A witness spotted the two at different locations on Sunset Boulevard, where a Lexington County Sheriff's Department (LCSD) spokesperson said they were later arrested on Thursday night.
However, some sightings happened before SLED notified the public of the two's escape or released pictures of them.
One store owner caught Malachi Ussery on her security camera on Sept. 9 at her vape shop, Green Mist, but she didn't know to call the authorities because they hadn't released any information that the two were missing.
"I didn’t even know it was happening until he showed up and asked to see the footage," said Estrada. "I asked, 'Why? Are you looking for them?' He said they escaped."
That incident report shows that witnesses also saw the two later in the week on that same road, including the owner of Richard Automotive, who captured what appeared to be both of the teens carrying laundry bags.
The report also alleges Bissonnette was seen making a phone call to his mother on Sunset Boulevard.
A prior incident report from the night the two escaped shows Lexington County deputies responded to the Three Rivers Behavioral Health Midlands Campus on Erskine Road at 9:36 p.m. after a call saying three juveniles had escaped. A 14-year-old returned to the facility before deputies arrived and said he did not know where the other two had gone.
That report also mentions that, according to someone who works at the facility, Ussery's grandfather lives in Columbia and that it was a possibility they might walk there. It also said Ussery had a "history" with the Lexington County Sheriff's Department.
Someone at the facility also said they believed the two escapees had "bad phone calls" that day.
News19 contacted the Department of Juvenile Justice with several questions regarding how this might have happened. A spokesperson declined to comment.