RALEIGH, NC — More than 24 hours after an inmate serving a life sentence for murder escaped from a transport van, the local sheriff said Wednesday they have “no concrete leads” on his whereabouts.
Ramone Alston, 30, escaped from the van on Tuesday when he arrived at UNC Gastroenterology Hospital in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he was being taken for a medical appointment. He freed himself from his leg restraints and fled into the woods in handcuffs, a press release from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
Authorities deployed dogs and found tracks leading north of the hospital, but the trail was faint, Orange County Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders said at a news conference Wednesday.
U.S. police officers are assisting Orange County officers and other law enforcement agencies in the search. Helicopters have been flying over the area and tips are being collected, but so far there are “no concrete leads” on Alston’s whereabouts, Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said at the news conference.
Blackwood urged residents near the hospital to check their home cameras for evidence of where Alston went and to remain vigilant.
“He’s extremely cunning, extremely dangerous and he has nothing to lose,” Blackwood said.
Alston has been serving a life sentence at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor since his conviction for the murder of 1-year-old Maleah Williams, who was shot from a passing car as she played outside her family’s Chapel Hill apartment on Christmas Day in 2015. She died three days later.
The transportation officials involved are being questioned to gather more details about Alston’s escape, Blackwood said. No one has been suspended, he said.
Alston has family and friends who live nearby, and Blackwood said they have reached out to some family members, but their cooperation has been “mixed.”
The reward for information leading to his arrest has been increased from $25,000 to $35,000 after a contribution from the U.S. Marshals Service, officials said.
While many of the reports from residents were not serious, the sheriff’s office has received a few tips about Alston being seen in Durham, and a team of investigators has been sent to the area to investigate, Blackwood said.
