By Kathee Baird

Atoka, Oklahoma-Law enforcers across multiple states are searching for a man who escaped from a prison in Oklahoma.

A spokesperson for the Atoka County Sheriff’s Office says officers at the Howard Mcleod Correctional Center discovered Stephen Dale Shorey, 49, was missing during a routine check around 7:00 p.m.

Shorey has ties to the Ozarks.  In October of 2012 he entered an Alford Plea in Stone County to charges of failing to register as a sex offender.  According to online court records he also has convictions in Greene County for assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and felony fleeing.  He had been in custody in Oklahoma since April of this year on child molestation charges.

A spokesman with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections says Shorey escaped its minimum security facility in Atoka Thursday (11-06-14) night. Jerry Massey said prison staff noticed a vehicle with Missouri plates outside the prison and conducted a head count. They discovered Shorey missing at about 7 p.m.   Massey said the Oklahoma Highway Patrol pulled over the vehicle and Shorey was not in it.

He is about 5’11″ and 180 pounds with black hair and blue eyes .  He has a tattoo on his right leg.

If you have any information on Shorey’s whereabouts you’re asked to contact your local law enforcement agency or 9-1-1.