Update: Offender Billy Lee Smith ((#0622714) was captured without incident around 4:20 p.m. and returned to prison roughly five hours after he walked off a job site. Smith was found in a wooded area in Asheville. Prison search teams were assisted by members of the U.S. Marshals Service and sheriff deputies from Burke, Buncombe and McDowell counties. Smith will face escape charges.
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Prison emergency response teams and local law enforcement are searching for Rutherford Correctional Center offender Billy Lee Smith (#0622714), who walked off his job assignment at Marion Correctional Institution in Marion this morning.
Smith, 42, is a minimum custody offender serving a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking after his conviction in Buncombe County in 2022. His projected release date was April 27, 2028.
Smith was working near a maintenance shed on the grounds of Marion Correctional when a staff member checked on him around 11:35 a.m. and discovered he was missing.
Originally from Leicester in Buncombe County, Smith is a white male, 5 foot 8, weighing around 180 pounds with blond hair and hazel eyes. He has tattoos on his chest and right arm, and a prominent tear drop tattoo under his left eye. He was last seen wearing green pants, a grey t-shirt, and a green jacket.
If anyone has any information on Smith’s whereabouts, please call 911 or call Rutherford Correctional Center at 828-286-4121.