NH DOC: Habitual Offender On the Loose

MANCHESTER, NH - The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is looking for a minimum security inmate that walked away from the Calumet Transitional Housing Unit in Manchester in Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, according to a press statement.

Richard Keefe Barnes, 60, of Manchester, signed out of the facility to go to work at 8:50 a.m. His employer reported that he was sending him back at 9:50 a.m., according to Jeffrey Lyons of the NH DOC, but never returned.

“At approximately 12 p.m. he was placed on escape status,” Lyons stated.

Barnes is as a white male, 6 feet tall, 165 lbs. with gray hair and blue eyes. He received a one to four year sentence in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester for being a habitual offender. He was admitted to the New Hampshire State Prison on May 22, 2015, and was eligible for parole on May 20, 2016. His maximum release date is May 20, 2019.

The New Hampshire Department of Corrections Investigations Bureau and the New Hampshire State Police are investigating. Anyone with information about this inmate should contact their local law enforcement agency or the New Hampshire State Prison at 603-271-1801.

Escape is a Class B felony punishable by 3.5 to 7-years in prison.