Man found dead in creek had ditched a jail release program
Three days before a Louisville man was found dead Monday in a Valley Station creek, he had ditched a temporary release program at a Louisville Metro Corrections facility, jail officials confirmed Tuesday.
Authorities do not suspect foul play after Sean W. Shoemaker, 21, was pronounced dead just before 5 p.m. Monday. A passerby had spotted him just below the surface of the creek near a cluster of homes in the 5000 block of Woodbridge Lake Boulevard, Deputy Coroner Eddie Robinson said in a statement.
Shoemaker was placed at Louisville Metro Department of Corrections Community Corrections Center on Feb. 14, according to Metro Corrections spokesman Steve Durham. On Feb. 22, by court order, he was authorized for temporary releases to look for work. Two days later, on Friday, Feb. 24, he didn't return at the end of the day.
"At approximately 4:00 p.m., inmate Shoemaker was classified as AWOL and at that time Corrections officials applied for an Escape Warrant based on Inmate Shoemaker’s failure to return to custody within the time allotted after his authorized departure," Durham wrote in an email.
An autopsy was performed on Monday and the cause of death is pending additional results. No lethal injuries were found at the time of the autopsy, according to the coroner.
Louisville Metro Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said Tuesday morning that investigators did not see any obvious signs of foul play. However, they are waiting for the coroner before making any official decisions about his manner of death.
A Louisville Metro Police Dive Team and the Pleasure Ridge Park Fire Department extracted the body from underneath a footbridge that spans the creek. It is about a 9-foot drop from the bridge to the creek.
Neighbor Robin Siegwald said her friend made the initial 911 call after a homeless man knocked on her friend's door and said he had found the body. She called the death "devastating."
Mitchell said that the incident is considered a "death investigation." There are no suspects. No other information was immediately available.
Shoemaker had been booked at the jail about ten times in the past on charges that included possession of drug paraphernalia, Durham said.
The CCC is located on Chestnut Street near the hospitals, and typically houses minimum custody inmates with work-release court orders who are allowed to go to work, see doctors or go to substance abuse programs, Durham said. He said such escapes are "not ordinary, but not rare" and couldn't provide exact figures.
"We set parameters about when they have to be back, and we manage the flow of individuals in and out of custody all the time," he said. "If you don't return to custody ... you're going to be charged with an escape charge."
Reporter Chris Kenning can be reached at 502-582-4697 or ckenning@courier-journal.com Justin Sayers can be reached at jsayers@gannett.com or 502-582-4252.
►Critics fear bill would resegregate JCPS
► Navy punishes Special Ops who flew Trump flag
► U of L halftime contest winner knew he wasn't eligible