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Woman spent 2 days trapped in St. Louis jail stairwell

Authorities say the woman was given verbal instructions on how to leave the building, but she never made it to the front door.

ST. LOUIS — Organizers at St. Louis Corrections have changed protocol after a woman was accidentally locked in a jail stairwell for more than two days.

The woman was booked and released from custody around 8 a.m. on June 5 on the Justice Center's second floor with verbal instructions on how to leave the building: take the elevators to the first level, make a right turn and walk out.

But she didn't make it through the front door.

Authorities said surveillance video shows the woman, who has not been identified, enter the elevator at 8:17 a.m., push all the buttons and exit on the 5th floor.

That's where she went through an emergency exit, despite signs warning against entering, and the door locked behind her.

Information provided by the city said the alarm on that door was disabled while some work was being done, and it had not been reactivated.

The woman tried making noise, but Justice Center employees couldn't find the source of the noise until June 7 at 6:32 p.m., roughly 58 hours after she was first released.

Justice Center staff brought medical help to check the woman out, but they say the woman didn't want to be treated, only asking to go home.

“We’re very sorry that this occurred, and we have put precautions in place to make sure this doesn't happen again,” City Corrections Commissioner Dale Glass said in a statement.

One of the new precautions: people will be physically escorted out of the building.

Contact reporter Sara Machi on Facebook and Twitter.

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