Virginia and North Carolina authorities are searching for two jail escapees, one of whom is charged with murder

CNN
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Federal and state law enforcement in Virginia and North Carolina are searching for two men who escaped from jail, one of whom was facing a murder charge in the death of a sheriff’s deputy.

The two men escaped from a Farmville, Virginia, jail sometime over the weekend, the Prince Edward County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The sheriff’s office was notified the two men were missing early Monday morning.

Farmville is roughly 60 miles southwest of Richmond and about 60 miles north of the North Carolina border, where authorities say both men have connections.

The escapees were identified by authorities as Alder Marin-Sotelo, 26, and Bruce Carroll Callahan, 44.

Marin-Sotelo is facing a first-degree murder charge in connection with the August killing of Wake County Sheriff’s Deputy Ned Byrd in North Carolina, according to the FBI. Byrd was shot multiple times and killed after getting out of his vehicle to investigate “suspicious activity” during his patrol, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a non-profit dedicated to memorializing fallen officers.

Marin-Sotelo, who was described by authorities as Hispanic, had also been convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm, according to the Prince Edward County Sheriff’s Office. He is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs roughly 150 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes, the sheriff’s office added.

He is believed to have left the jail in an early 2000s red or burgundy Ford Mustang, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

He is considered “extremely dangerous,” authorities said.

Callahan was being held on federal drug and weapons charges, the U.S. Marshals Service said in a news release. He is White, 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs roughly 145 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes, the release added.

It’s unclear if the two men have legal representation.

There is a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to Callahan’s arrest, the Marshal’s Service added. The Marshal’s Service is looking for Callahan and helping in the search for Marin-Sotelo, which is being led by the FBI, the news release noted.

In a announcement of the search Monday, Prince Edward County Sheriff L.A. “Tony” Epps urged community members to stay vigilant and call 911 if they see anyone matching descriptions of the escapees.

“We appreciate the support from our many law enforcement partners and the public, as we continue to search (for) these individuals,” the sheriff added.