An escaped Mississippi inmate and a prison employee who allegedly helped him escape have been arrested.
Ryan Burks, 39, managed to escape from the Carroll County Regional Correctional Center on Wednesday.
Carroll County deputies said the facility was placed on lockdown and emergency procedures began after Burks managed to escape.
Prison officials later discovered that kitchen worker Leslie Nichole McNeil, 44, had also left the property with Bucks in her car.
They were then tracked down and authorities moved in to try to stop the vehicle, but both disobeyed orders.
Ryan Burks, 39, managed to escape from the Carroll County Regional Correctional Center on Wednesday.
Prison officials then discovered that kitchen worker Leslie Nichole McNeil, 44, had also left the property with Bucks in her car.
Authorities said the car was eventually totaled after a traffic stop and both occupants were arrested shortly afterward.
Burks was turned over to the sheriff’s office before being transferred to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Meanwhile, McNeal was taken to a local hospital for treatment and later charged with accessory to a felony. She is currently being held in the Lafayette County Jail.
Burks was arrested on felony charges of fleeing in a motor vehicle and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
He had been serving time for two counts of sexual assault and robbery when he made his failed escape attempt after being sentenced in January 2006.
In July of that year, two inmates at a Mississippi jail in Claiborne County were captured after being free for more than 24 hours.
Tyrekennel Collins, 24, and Dezarrious Johnson, 18, were captured at an abandoned residence after escaping from a detention center.
Burks was arrested on felony charges of fleeing in a motor vehicle and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
The two inmates were considered dangerous by authorities and were being held on murder charges at the time of their escape.
Due to the failed escape, they were charged with an additional charge of escape, which carries an additional five years in prison.
According to figures from 2000 to 2019, the number of escapees from state and federal prisons has decreased significantly.
In 2019, 2,231 inmates escaped from state or federal prisons, which was a decrease from the previous year, when 2,351 inmates escaped from facilities.
The latest figures are less than half of what was recorded in 2000, with 5,168 escapes between state and federal prisons.
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