By JOSH FRIEDMAN

The two inmates who escaped Monterey County Jail while facing gang-related murder charges were caught by the United States border patrol Tuesday night. 

At about 11:35 p.m., federal agents caught the fugitives attempting to enter the United States from Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing, according to federal authorities. Deputies returned the murder suspects to the Monterey County Jail on Wednesday.

Three days earlier, on Sunday morning, Santos Samuel Fonseca, 21, and Jonathan Salazar, 20, managed to escape the jail by climbing out of 22-inch hole they cut in the ceiling of a jail bathroom.

After making their way through the tiny hole, the inmates crawled through a small space and then made their way out of a hatch and into an area of the facility that was under construction.

Fonseca and Salazar were being held in jail pending murder charges in separate cases. 

In June 2018, Fonseca was arrested in connection with two murders that occurred in Salinas during a four-day period. His bail was set at $2.25 million.

In July 2018, officers arrested Salazar and a 15-year-old male for allegedly murdering one man and attempting to murder another man.