CHICAGO (AP) — A manhunt for two bank robbers who escaped from a Chicago lockup pushed into a second day Wednesday, with authorities asking the public for help in finding them but warning that they could be armed and dangerous.

The former cellmates pulled off a daring escape from the downtown high-rise Metropolitan Correctional Center early Tuesday morning by apparently breaking out a window and bars then descending almost 20 stories using a makeshift rope.

Joseph "Jose" Banks, 37, and Kenneth Conley, 38, were unaccounted for during a 5 a.m. headcount, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. An FBI affidavit says the men were in their assigned areas for a head count around 10 p.m. Monday and that jail employees noticed the makeshift rope around 7 a.m., and nearby business owners said helicopters and canine units did not swarm the area until almost 8:30 a.m.