Search underway for 4 Alabama inmates who escaped correctional center

A search is underway for four inmates who escaped from a correctional center in central Alabama Saturday, authorities said. 

The inmates escaped the Perry County Correctional PREP Center in Uniontown, Alabama, the Perry County Sheriff’s Office reported. 

Law enforcement agencies were alerted at approximately 1 a.m. local time on Saturday of the escape, the sheriff’s office said. The sheriff’s office identified the wanted men as Marquavious Billingsley, Jaden Christopher Maxwell, Johnny Dave Harris Bush Jr. and Kevin Gunn. 

The details and circumstances of their escape were not immediately provided.   

The inmates, from Dallas County, Alabama, were at the PREP center under an agreement with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department. PREP stands for Parole and Probation Reentry Education and Employment Program Center. 

The inmates were being held on various charges including murder, first-degree robbery, breaking and entering vehicles, first-degree escape, first-degree assault and promoting prison contraband, the sheriff’s office disclosed. 

Authorities said anyone with information regarding their whereabouts was urged to call 911, and was advised not to approach or apprehend them.

“The safety of Perry County residents is the top priority,” Perry County Sheriff Roy Fikes said in a news release, adding that deputies and “assisting agencies” are “actively engaged in efforts to locate and apprehend the escapees, and an investigation is currently underway.”