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Searches continue for two inmates after separate escapes from B.C. prison

Searches continue for two inmates after separate escapes from B.C. prison | iNFOnews.ca
Michael Sheets is seen in this undated police handout photo. A search is underway in British Columbia for a man who has walked away from a minimum security prison while serving time for a firebombing that killed two children. The Correctional Service of Canada says Michael Sheets was reported missing from the minimum security unit at Mission Institution on Saturday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Correctional Service of Canada

MISSION, B.C. – A search is underway in British Columbia for a man who walked away from a minimum-security prison while serving time for a firebombing that killed two children in Calgary.

The Correctional Service of Canada says Michael Sheets was reported missing from the Mission Institution on Saturday.

The 48-year-old prisoner is serving a sentence of more than 14-years for manslaughter and arson for his role in the firebombing that killed a six-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister in 2004.

A release from the correctional service says an arrest warrant has been issued for Sheets, who may also use the name John Hala.

Sheets escaped from a Vancouver Island prison in 2015 but was quickly recaptured and was granted day parole last August.

A search also continues for another Mission Institution inmate — John Mackenzie — who was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder when he did not appear for a head count on Aug. 7.

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Marshall Jones

News is best when it's local, relevant, timely and interesting. That's our focus every day.

We are on the ground in Penticton, Vernon, Kelowna and Kamloops to bring you the stories that matter most.

Marshall may call West Kelowna home, but after 16 years in local news and 14 in the Okanagan, he knows better than to tell readers in other communities what is "news' to them. He relies on resident reporters to reflect their own community priorities and needs. As the newsroom leader, his job is making those reporters better, ensuring accuracy, fairness and meeting the highest standards of journalism.

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