CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C.,None — Sheriff's deputies are continuing the search for an Alexander Correctional Institution inmate who escaped more than a week ago.
CHOPPER VIDEO: Manhunt Continues For Escaped Inmate
Xavier Shaw, 43, escaped from the Alexander County prison on June 30. He is a medium-security inmate, convicted of second-degree kidnapping and robbery in January 2007. He was scheduled to be released in August, but faces additional charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon in Wake County.
SLIDESHOW: Manhunt Continues For Escaped Inmate
Two people reported seeing Shaw on Thursday, deputies said. The sightings were at a campsite on the Catawba County side of Lookout Lake, deputies said. Bloodhounds assisted in the search, and deputies set up a large perimeter on both sides of the river.
Deputies said they found a stolen boat that they think Shaw used to cross the river.
"The boat was reported missing sometime after 11:30 last night," Sheriff Chris Bowan said.
Bowan said someone also broke into a camper in the area where the boat was found.
Randall Fox works at a gas station in the search area and has Shaw's picture posted on the door.
"I'm looking forward to them catching him," Fox said. "I'd like for my kids to be able to get outside without supervision. They feel like prisoners while he's out running loose."
Fox said Shaw's escape has been on many people's minds.
"Everybody expected him to already be caught," he said. "It's like a needle in a haystack, I'm sure."
Prison officials said Shaw was working on an addition to the prison when he crawled into a box on a construction crew's truck and was taken out of the prison. He got out of the box somewhere nearby, officials said, and ran away.
Other inmates alerted prison officials of the escape.
Anyone with information that could help with the search is asked to call the Alexander County Sheriff's Office at 828-632-4658.
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