GRADY, Ark. -- Two convicted murderers put on corrections-officer uniforms and walked out of an Arkansas prison during a shift change, officials said Saturday as they searched for the men.
Jeffrey Grinder, 32, and Calvin Adams, 39, escaped Friday evening from the Cummins Unit prison in Grady more than three hours before officials realized they were missing, corrections department spokeswoman Dina Tyler said.
Both men were serving life sentences without the possibility of parole at the prison about 60 miles southeast of Little Rock.
The guard uniforms the inmates put on are made in the prison. Video surveillance shows the men put them on in the prison library after the 6 p.m. headcount and walked out of the prison during a shift change less than 20 minutes later, Tyler said.
Prison officials are investigating whether all policies and procedures were followed.
"Someone should have laid eyes on them. That's one of the things we're looking at: How exactly did they get out without someone challenging them?" Tyler said.
Officials realized the men were missing after coming up short during the 10 p.m. inmate headcount, Tyler said.
Grinder and Adams drove away in a maroon or burgundy colored, 4-door sedan that had been left for them. That car may have been spotted in southeast Missouri on Saturday. Police are now searching for a maroon or red 2003 4-door Hyundai Sonata with a bondo patch on the right rear with Arkansas License No. 595-NYM.
Authorities say the men are believed to be heading to either Minnesota or Canada and should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.
Grinder was convicted of capital murder in 2004, and Adams was convicted of capital murder in 1995. Both men have family in Arkansas and out of state.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
