Authorities are searching for an inmate with ties to Mercer County who escaped from a work release program in Huntington.

The West Virginia Division of Corrections said Thomas Lee Dunn, 41, left his job at a Huntington restaurant after he took out the trash late Sunday night.  A warrant for felony escape was issued Monday morning.

Dunn was serving a sentence for daytime burglary and obtaining money by false pretense charges in Mercer County.