A manhunt is underway near the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport in Georgia after an inmate who was to be extradited escaped from police custody.
Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the media that Joseph H. Baynes, who was about to be extradited from Georgia’s airport, escaped police custody and fled the scene. This occurred at 1:30 pm on Thursday.
Baynes, according to police, escaped from custody “at some point” and vanished.
Police said in a press release that Baynes was wanted for felony stalking charges.
Police said that Baynes, while in custody at Bulloch County Jail signed a waiver to allow him to return to Minnesota and answer to these charges.
The Georgia police department clarified its department’s involvement in the incident because it had handed Baynes over to Minnesota officials at the time he escaped.
Authorities from the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia State Patrol are searching for the escapee in the woods around the main airport parking lot.
The police say this is a continuing investigation. A spokesperson for the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport confirms that airport operations have not been interrupted.
