Corrections and law enforcement officers are seeking inmate James Ladd who escaped today while working outside Tillery Correctional Center.

State Department of Corrections spokesman Keith Acree said Ladd had been operating a tractor on the prison farm this morning. That tractor was found abandoned on the farm just before noon.

It is not clear whether Ladd had someone waiting for him. Prison officials have activated one of its emergency response teams and are working intelligence.

Ladd, 51, of Iredell County, was serving three consecutive life sentences in connection with robbery and shooting deaths of two men on a Yadkin County farm in 1981, according to Acree.

Anyone who has seen Ladd, or has information on his whereabouts should call local law enforcement or Tillery Correctional Center at 252-826-4165.