Search continues for inmate who escaped northwest Minnesota correctional center

The search continues in northeastern Minnesota on Thursday for an escaped inmate.

The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office says 40-year-old Michael Hart fled the Northeast Regional Corrections Center in Saginaw on Tuesday night. The center is located about 20 miles northwest of Duluth.

Hart is believed to be headed towards the town of Independence, about 8 miles north of the facility, the sheriff’s office said.

He is described as standing 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 169 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

Hart was last seen wearing a yellow sweatshirt, a gray T-shirt and blue pants.

The sheriff’s office advises anyone with information on his whereabouts to “not approach” him and call 911 immediately.

According to its website, Northeast Regional Corrections Center is a “minimum/medium security institution” for men, and is considered “Minnesota’s only correctional work farm.”

The center can hold 144 inmates on its 3,200-acre property that borders Caribou and Fish lakes.