Search continues for escaped inmate who woman saw hiding in trunk of her car, cops say

A search is underway for a man who escaped from a Midlands jail, the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

Shaun Wayne Wiles, 43, is wanted for the escape and a “dangerous drugs” charge, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

The marshals service described Wiles as 5-foot-10, 155-pound man with gray hair and blue eyes.

Wiles also has a large tattoo of the name “Melissa” on the right side of his neck, and was last seen wearing dark clothing, according to the sheriff’s office.

Information about how Wiles escaped from the Clarendon County Detention Center at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday was not available.

The sheriff’s office said it is not affiliated with the detention center, and is investigating how Wiles escaped.

Wiles was being held at the jail on the drug charge, according to the marshals service.

Messages left with the sheriff’s office were not immediately returned.

Neither the sheriff’s office nor the marshals service said whether Wiles is considered dangerous, but warned anyone who sees Wiles not to approach him, and also to immediately call 911.

Shortly after daylight, a woman said she saw Wiles in the trunk of her car when she was putting a bag of trash in the vehicle, prompting the escaped inmate to run off into the woods, the sheriff’s office said.

At another point during the search, at a farm about a mile away, another resident told officers that a pickup of his had been stolen, and surveillance footage of the incident showed it was Wiles who took the truck, according to the sheriff’s office.

The stolen truck is a 2006 GMC single cab white pickup with a toolbox on the back and 25 bags of corn in the truck’s bed and the license plate number 44568FM, the sheriff’s office said.

There is up to a $5,000 reward offered by the marshals service for information directly leading to Wiles’ location and arrest. Information about Wiles can be reported to 1-877-WANTED2, or online at usmarshals.gov/tips.

There is a large law enforcement presence involved in the hunt that includes Manning police officers, Sumter County sheriff’s deputies, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents, and troopers with the South Carolina Highway Patrol, along with the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals Service.. The SLED helicopter and police K-9 officers have been used in the hunt for Wiles.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 8:59 AM.

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription