The search for an escaped inmate from a state prison in Miami-Dade County has expanded and authorities say he may be headed for the Tampa Bay area.
Authorities are expanding their search for Ronald B. McCoy who disappeared Friday afternoon. According to WPTV, Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jessica Cary said Saturday that McCoy was unaccounted for after a routine count of inmates at the Dade Correctional Institution in Florida City. No additional details were provided.
Cary says that state and local law enforcement will “extend every resource to apprehend this inmate.”
McCoy may be headed to Tampa area because he may have family here, according to a statement from Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman Greti Plessinger and reported by Bay News 9.
Prison records show that McCoy was convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to life in prison in 2003.
The prison’s warden was fired after the death of a mentally ill inmate and the facility is under scrutiny recently.
Authorities say McCoy has a small scar on his neck and a tattoo on his left arm that says “Bicep Pysco” and urge anyone with information about McCoy’s whereabouts to call 911.
