Published: September 29, 2009 07:22 am      

Inmate on the lam

Authorities are searching for a 48-year-old Dewey County jail inmate who escaped Sunday night between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., Dewey County Undersheriff Clay Sander said.

Gary Bruce McKinney of Mooreland was being held in the jail while waiting for a Department of Corrections transport to serve a five-year prison sentence on a felony DUI conviction, Sander said.

McKinney is believed to have cut a hole in a fence that surrounded the jail yard.

“He crawled through it and walked away,” Sander said. “We have no idea where he went.”

Sander said McKinney is white, about 5'8" and weighs 140 pounds. He has a light complexion with brown hair and blue eyes.

The night he escaped, he was wearing a gray T-shirt and blue jeans, the undersheriff said.

His mother lives in Tyler, Texas, and “he may be heading there,” Sander said.

The state of Texas also has a warrant out for McKinney’s arrest in Travis County near Austin, he said. Sander did not know why the warrant was issued but noted that “McKinney has a history of problems with the law.”

“If anyone sees McKinney, contact a local law enforcement agency as soon as possible,” Sander said.