Magnolia News

About a year ago Hollis Alford of the Progress community was outside by his barn when he caught a gleam of something metallic in the ground.

<![CDATA[MAGNOLIA, Miss. (AP) -- Authorities are searching for a 22-year-old inmate who escaped from the Pike County Community Work Center over the weekend. Mississippi Department of Corrections spokeswoman Tara Booth says Richard Glen Maples escaped Saturday night and remained at large Monday. The escape is under investigation. Booth says Maples may be traveling in a white 2007 GMC 4-door truck with Louisiana tag number: LA X679772. The truck was stolen in Kentwood, La. Maples was serving seven years for burglary, identity theft and credit card fraud in Jones County. He's described as 6-foot-1,180 pounds, with green eyes, brown hair, and tattoos including the initials "RG" with flames on his left arm and the words "slick Rick" across both hands. Anyone with any information on Maples whereabouts should contact local authorities or MDOC at 662-745-6611.

"His seatbelt saved him," said one Kentwood Volunteer Fireman at the scene of an overturned 18-wheeler A Magnolia, Miss.