BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — After three Sullivan County Jail inmates escaped through an overhead vent last Friday, Sullivan County authorities attributed the incident to a “facility failure and human error.”
A release from the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) on Wednesday revealed that authorities continue to search for Johnny Brown, who is believed to be alive after the other two inmates — Tobias Carr and Timothy Sarver — were confirmed dead in North Carolina following a multi-county police chase over the weekend.
Police believe Brown may still be in North Carolina.
The SCSO said the agency has been working on an internal review to prevent another escape from happening again.
“All vents have since been inspected, and measures were taken to further secure them,” the release read. “While we cannot release specifics about our operational patterns for the safety of our staff, we can say that a combination of facility failure and human error resulted in the inmates being able to escape in the manner that they did.”
The complete release is available to read below.
The U.S. Marshals Service and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) posted a combined reward of $7,500 for information leading to Brown’s capture.
The 50-year-old man is described as standing 5 feet and 11 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds with gray hair and brown eyes.
Brown was jailed on failure to appear charges, along with driving on a suspended or revoked license, harassment, violation of a protective order, domestic assault and aggravated stalking.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged not to approach him and to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
