WANTED! U.S. Marshals issue reward for info on escaped inmate

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — The search for a Georgia inmate who walked away from work detail is in its second day.

The U.S. Marshals Service is now offering a $1,000 reward for information that helps find him.

On Tuesday, Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant went back to the command post in Carroll County, where law enforcement officers from several agencies were concentrating on a 3-mile area in the search for Tommy Shane Morton.

“I’m very worried,” said resident Mary Bolan.

The Georgia Department of Corrections, the U.S. Marshals Service and local K-9 teams are searching the dense woods and patrolling the streets outside the city of Temple, looking for Morton, who walked away from a work detail on Monday.

“Is it getting frustrating for you out here?” Diamant asked Carroll County Prison Warden Robert Jones.

“No, this is just all part of the job. We understand that these things happen at times,” Jones said.

Jones, who’s leading the search from a makeshift command post at a small church, told Diamant about the challenges his teams face.

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“When it’s warm like this, it takes a lot out of the officers. It takes a lot out of the K-9s. But it also takes a lot out of the offender who’s running,” Jones said.

Morton is about eight years into a 10-year sentence for manufacturing marijuana and theft charges.

He’s been in and out of prison since 1996 for several nonviolent crimes.

Still, homeowner C.J. Green is now standing an armed watch outside his home.

“What do you do if you see him?” Diamant asked Green.

“Well, I mean, I have to do what we got to do. I mean, if he comes up here and causes a threat to me, you know, then I’m going to take care of it,” Green said.

While Green is also concerned about the cost of the search, Jones said, “We will continue searching for him until he’s captured.”

The warden told Diamant he's confident Morton is still in the area.

Morton is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. He has brown hair and was last seen wearing his state-issued orange shirt and white pants with a blue stripe.

Anyone who sees Morton is asked to call 911 and is warned not to approach him.

Cox Media Group