WAYNE COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) – According to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, the Monticello 911 Dispatch Center received a call at 8:27 p.m. on March 27 from the Wayne County Detention Center stating that a prisoner, Joseph Payton of Albany, had escaped.
Units from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and Monticello Police Department responded to the detention center. Employees reportedly told officials they could not confirm how long Payton had been missing.
Inmate logs stated Payton was still in the detention center when medications were distributed to inmates earlier in the day on March 27, but video footage revealed he had not been in his bunk area since March 25.
Officials said one inmate they interviewed stated they had seen Joseph Payton walk out of the detention center’s recreation area around 4 p.m. on March 25.
The Monticello Police Department said they had a report of a stolen pickup truck at 4:50 on March 25 from a parking lot on KY Highway 90, one mile west of the detention center. Authorities believe the escapee may have stolen the pickup truck.
(Wayne County Sheriff’s Office)
The stolen vehicle is reported as a 2001 Dodge Ram extended cab, white in color, with a smashed windshield, and damage to the front in a V-shape pattern.
Anyone with information regarding Payton’s escape and his whereabouts is asked to contact the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office at (606) 348-5416 or the Monticello Police Department at (606) 348-9313.
