Manhunt for Clarendon County escaped inmate underway

MANNING – A manhunt is underway in Clarendon County for a prisoner who escaped from the Clarendon County Detention Center early Thursday morning.

The U.S. Marshals Service in Columbia said authorities are searching for 43-year-old Shaun Wayne Wiles who fled the local jail around 1:30 a.m. Nov. 10. They said Wiles was being held on a dangerous drug charge.

The Marshal’s Service said authorities are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information directly leading to Wiles’ location and arrest.

Wiles is a white male with gray hair and blue eyes. He’s 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 155 pounds and has a tattoo of the name Melissa on the right side of his neck.

Anyone with information regarding Wiles’ whereabouts is asked to call the U.S. Marshal’s Service at 1-877-WANTED (926-8332) or call 911. Individuals can also submit an anonymous WEB-TIP or TEXT NHTIP with any information to TIP411.

According to the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office, shortly after 1 a.m. on Thursday, they were notified by dispatch that an inmate had escaped from the detention center.

Officers with the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office, Manning Police Department, U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, SLED helicopter, South Carolina Highway Patrol ACERT, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office are searching for the man.

K-9s were used to track the subject from the detention center. Shortly after daylight, a homeowner reported he spotted the escapee in the trunk of her car as she was placing a trash bag in it. The person then fled into a wooded area. Law enforcement officers were relocated to that area and renewed their search.

While the search was going on, officers received information from a farmer located about a mile away that one of his farm pickups had just been stolen. A video of the theft revealed the truck is thought to be stolen by the escaped inmate.

The stolen truck is a white 2006 GMC single cab pickup truck. When taken, it a toolbox on the back and 25 bags of corn in the bed of the truck. The South Carolina license plate on the truck is 44568FM.

The Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office is assisting the Clarendon County Detention Center, which is not a part of the sheriff’s office, in determining how Wiles escaped the facility.