The Jackson Sun (Jackson, Tenn.)
WHITEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Police were searching Saturday night for a convicted murderer who earlier in the day escaped from the prison where he was serving a life sentence without parole.
Tracy Lynn Harris, 26, was believed to be heading south from Whiteville when he escaped from the Hardeman County Correctional Facility at about 9:30 a.m., assistant warden Joe Patterson said.
“We believe the inmate to be extremely dangerous, and anyone who might have information about him should call 911 or local authorities,” Patterson told The Jackson Sun newspaper.
Harris was sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 rape and murder of 81-year-old Madelyn Ruth Bomar, who lived in McKenzie.
Patterson said officials believe Harris escaped through a hole found cut into a fence surrounding the facility. The inmate may have blood on his clothing from the fence’s razor wire, he said.
Harris is a 5-foot-11 inch, 158-pound white man with blue eyes and red hair, Patterson said.
Bomar’s family was notified Saturday afternoon of Harris’ escape, said Susan Reid, the victim’s youngest daughter.
Reid worried that Harris might be coming back to McKenzie, where she still lives and he is from.
“We really don’t know what we need to be doing,” she said. “I’m here at the same place I’ve always lived, and he’s aware of that. I live right around the corner from where my mother was murdered. I can see her house from here.”
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and staff members from four other correctional facilities were aiding in the search, Patterson said.
The facility is operated by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America.