Search underway for man who escaped correctional center in Hyde County

SWANQUARTER, N.C. (WTVD) -- A search is underway for a man authorities said escaped a correctional center in Hyde County.

The North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections said Francisco Cardenas, 32, escaped from the Hyde Correctional Center in Swan Quarter on Thursday.

Cardenas is described as 6-feet 1-inch tall, and about 130 lbs with brown eyes and a tattoo of a star on his left hand.

Officers said Cardenas is a minimum-custody offender who was serving a five-to-eight-year sentence for drug trafficking after he was convicted in Lee County. He was scheduled to be released in January 2029.

If you see Cardenas, you are asked to call local law enforcement or the Hyde Correctional Center at (252)-926-1810.