Former Comanche County Sheriff's dispatcher escapes from prison camp

Wednesday, May 10th 2006, 12:20 pm

By: News On 6

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) _ A former dispatcher with the Comanche County Sheriff's Department who was convicted of embezzlement remains missing after walking away from the Alderson Federal Prison Camp.

The US Marshal's Service says Wanda Byrd disappeared from the minimum security prison for female offenders in Alderson, West Virginia, on Saturday.

The prison is the one where Martha Stewart served time.

Brad Sellers with the Marshal's Service says the prison has no fence and inmates can easily walk away.

Byrd is one of eight people who pleaded guilty to federal charges of theft from a federally funded program after a security guard scandal involving the Lawton Public Schools system.

Sellers says authorities are looking for Byrd in Oklahoma because she has family and friends in Lawton.