The frantic search for a convicted baby killer who escaped a van transporting him to a hospital continued Wednesday.
Ramone Alston, 30, managed to free himself from leg restraints inside a prison van that was taking him for medical treatment in Hillsborough, North Carolina, Tuesday morning, according to authorities.
Two correctional officers were removing Alston from the vehicle at a rear entrance when he "broke away," ran across a parking lot and disappeared into a wooded area, said Keith Acree with the Department of Corrections.
Using aerial assets, canine resources and ground searches covering more than 600 acres, Alston has managed to evade capture for more than 24 hours.
"Since he left the hospital, everything indicates a northern push. We received a call last night that he was at Big Lots in Durham. We received another call that might suggest that he was in another area in Durham. There was some discussion about him being in another part of the state, and I cannot put any degree of certainty with any of those," Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood told reporters during a Wednesday afternoon update.
Blackwood said he believed Alston's escape was planned, noting some family members of the convict had been more cooperative than others.
"We have made contact with some family members," he said. "Cooperation has been varied."
Alston was in the middle of serving a life sentence for the Christmas Day slaying of 1-year-old Maleah Williams in 2015. Maleah was struck in the head during a drive-by shooting into a crowd gathered outside an apartment complex in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Prior to his first-degree murder conviction, Blackwood described Alston as a career criminal, whose father he went to school with.
"I've known Ramone (Alston) since he was born. He was a troubled child, and he's been involved in criminal activity since he was a juvenile. He's extremely cagey. He's extremely dangerous," said Blackwood. "And he has nothing to lose."
A $35,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Alston's capture.
