IONIA, Mich. (AP) — A man serving life behind bars for
murder in four 1993 deaths in Michigan has escaped from prison and
apparently abducted a woman before she got away in Indiana, authorities
said Monday.
Michael David Elliot, 40, was discovered missing
about 9:30 p.m. Sunday from the Ionia Correctional Facility in
mid-Michigan, Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan
said in an email.
Elliot may have abducted a woman from Ionia
using a knife or box cutter and drove to Elkhart, Ind., roughly 100
miles southwest of Ionia and near the Indiana-Michigan state line, where
they stopped for gas. The woman got away at the gas station and call
police, Marlan said.
Police made contact with the woman about
11:50 p.m. Sunday. Elliot left the gas station and was at large Monday
morning, Marlan said.
"Citizens should immediately call 911 if
they observe anything suspicious or possibly become aware of the
whereabouts of … Elliot," Marlan said in the email.
Officers
from the Michigan Department of Corrections, Michigan State Police and
other law enforcement agencies are searching for Elliot.
According
to the MDOC, Elliot is serving life sentences for first-degree murder.
He also has convictions for arson and armed robbery.
An emergency
count was conducted at the Ionia Correctional Facility and all other
prisoners have been accounted for, Marlan said.
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