A manhunt is underway for a convicted child sex offender who walked out of a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, on Thursday while in police custody, authorities said.
Tommy Wayne Boyd, 45, was serving a 30-year sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections for a 2007 conviction of felony enticement of a child, according to a statement from the department.
Boyd was also convicted of sodomizing an 11-year-old boy in October 1996, according to records from the Missouri State Highway Patrol's sex offender registry.
He was last seen Thursday shortly before 4 a.m. local time by hospital personnel, according to a statement from the St. Louis County Police Department.
Authorities said they responded around 4:30 a.m. to a report of an "escape from custody" at Mercy Hospital South, where Boyd was transported Wednesday from the Potosi Correctional Facility for medical treatment.
Surveillance video shared on the police department's Facebook page shows Boyd leaving the hospital on foot and traveling in an unknown direction.
Authorities described him as a white male between 5 feet, 7 inches and 5 feet, 9 inches; and weighing between 154 and 160 pounds with balding blond hair, blue eyes and a beard.
"He was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black jacket and orange slippers," the St. Louis County Police Department said in the statement.
The surveillance video also shows Boyd wearing white shorts.
Police said they do not know if Boyd is armed, but "he should be considered dangerous," according to the statement.
The Missouri Department of Corrections said in a statement it "immediately notified" various local, state and federal agencies after the escape.
"The department is working closely with law enforcement to apprehend Boyd, and an investigation into the incident is ongoing," the statement read.
St. Louis County Police Lt. Col. Jason Law told residents at a news conference Thursday not to approach Boyd if they see him and to call 911.
"I want you to know that we have brought in all the resources needed to respond immediately and effectively," Law said, adding residents should go about their daily activities and notify police if they see anything suspicious.
There have been no sightings of Boyd since he walked out of the hospital, Law said, and police are examining camera footage in the area.
About 240 miles northeast of St. Louis, authorities were also searching Thursday for another inmate who was accidentally released from an Indianapolis detention center on September 13.
Kevin Mason, 28, who was arrested on September 11, was released due to a clerical error, according to Indiana's Marion County Sheriff's Office.
He had been sought on three Minnesota warrants, including one asking he be held on suspicion of murder in connection with a 2021 shooting in Minneapolis, the sheriff's office said.
The searches for Boyd and Mason follow the nearly two-week manhunt for convicted killer Danilo Cavalcante, who escaped from a Pennsylvania county jail by "crab-walking" up to the roof on August 31 and was caught last week.
