As of late Thursday, area police still are searching for prison escapee Timothy Gerald Eads.
Eads pleaded guilty in June to 21 charges related to the break-in and rape of an Albemarle woman this January. He was scheduled to be sentenced this October.
Eads escaped from on Monday around 4 p.m. while outside of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Joint Security Complex under the supervision of two guards, according to Col. Robert L. Beatty, the deputy superintendent at the prison.
Albemarle County community relations manager Lee Catlin said that "police have widened the search beyond the immediate area and are investigating leads, although they caution residents that Eads may still be in the vicinity of the complex on Avon Street."
Sgt. Forrest Grout of the Albemarle Police Department said in addition to following leads his department had deployed extra patrol units to aid in the search for Eads.
There is about "a 50-50 probability that Eads is still in the area," he said.
Albemarle Police were joined by officers from the state police, Louisa county Police, University Police and the prison in the search for Eads.
"When he made the escape, we provided four officers to aid in the search, particularly around the area where the University has property," said Capt. Michael Coleman of the University Police.
The University and Albemarle police have "a mutual agreement to help out in any situation that might put a strain on the department," Coleman said.
Forces deployed in Monday's search reportedly included a bloodhound and a Virginia State Police helicopter. The aerial search, however, has since been discontinued, Grout said.
"Eads may have had the opportunity to shave, change his clothes or otherwise change his appearance somewhat by this time" Catlin said.
Of Eads's many charges, drug convictions alone will send him to prison for 38 years.
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