Kentucky State Police are seeking a work-release inmate rescued from a tornado-hit candle factory who now appears to be on the lam.
Francisco Starks, 44, was treated and released from the hospital after a tornado, one of several that swept across the Midwest and South on Friday, leveled the candle factory of Mayfield Consumer Products.
He was one of seven inmates working at the candle factory when the tornado hit, Graves County jailer George Workman told CNN on Saturday. It was a new work-release program that had just started last week for low-security, low-level offenders, Workman said.
Robert Daniel, 47, a deputy who was accompanying them was killed, the jail said in a statement.
The inmates were first buried under the rubble, then helped rescue others from the pile, reported The Washington Post. They were then treated for minor injuries, Workman told The Washington Post.
But Starks never reported back, Kentucky State Police said in a statement. He was treated and released from the hospital, and hasn’t been seen since.
“Upon his release, he walked away from the hospital,” police said.
Starks was serving a sentence at the Graves County Jail for third-degree burglary, theft by unlawful taking of an automobile, and receiving stolen property, police said.
In all, eight workers were confirmed dead and eight remained missing, while more than 90 others had been located, a candle company spokesman told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Kentucky officials were still assessing deaths and damage after the lethal tornadoes cut a 200-mile swath through four states.
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