BREWTON, AL - A search continues today for an Escambia County jail inmate who escaped yesterday through a hole in a jailyard fence.

Sheriff Grover Smith says 47-year-old William Mitchell was discovered missing around noon, but may have fled as early as eight AM, with help from outside the jail.

Mitchell was being held on two receiving stolen property charges from Flomaton and is a federal suspect in a bank robbery in south Florida.

Tracking dogs are being used in the search.

Meanwhile, Smith says the jail fencing may be replaced with steel sheeting to prevent future escapes.