Update: Escapee Turns Himself In

   NewsChannel 9 has learned that jail escapee Jason Plummer has just turned himself in. He had been on the run since Wednesday night around 9:30. He crawled out of the jail throught the air conditioning system.

   Sheriff Patrick Cannon says Plummer somehow got his wife's cell phone. She too went to jail on the same date for the same offense, failure to pass a drug test which resulted in probation violation.

   Sheriff Cannon says investigators sent texts to Plummer on the cell phone. And around 11:30 he came out of the woods near where he had ditched the stolen Dade County work truck. Sheriff Cannon says he is at Hutcheson Medical Center now for injuries he sustained during his escape. The jail took his shoes upon intake and Plummer reportedly cut his feet during either crawling through the ductwork, half mile run to the transfer station, or in the woods.  The sheriff says he contacted a relative this morning and shortly after decided to turn himself in.

    Below you will see how this former trustee broke out. 

   How the story unfolded as of Thursday afternoon:

    A manhunt is underway in Dade County for an escapee. Jason Plummer managed to maneuver his way out of the jail. What he did next quickly racks up new charges against him.

    Sheriff Patrick Cannon feels his deputies are close to capturing Plummer. He's no stranger to them and even built trust with jailers. He was a "trustee" or a non-violent inmate who does County labor. But he'll never have that status again.   

    31 year old Jason Plummer led Trenton and Dade County police on a high speed chase last night down the very winding Murphy Hollow Road. Plummer's no stranger to the Dade County Jail. He's been there about 14 times in the last 13 years.

    And the trustee knew his way in and out of the building. Sheriff Patrick Cannon says he stole a work truck from the County transfer station, where he had worked as a trustee.

   He rammed the truck through the gate and sped to near where his family lives. The Sheriff suspects Plummer was on meth and that fueled his dangerous decision. Sheriff Cannon said, "It's real curvy, a lot of residents live on the side and he was traveling 80 to 100 miles per hour on this road."

    And this is how the former trusted inmate broke out. Police brought him in on a probation violation for failing a drug test. The booking officer suspected he was on meth and put him in the "attorney holding area" for more than three hours of observation.

Sheriff Cannon says the detention officer stepped away to this desk for three to four minutes. The sheriff had called him looking for paperwork. That's when Plummer jumped off the inside door hinge and repeatedly punched the air vent until it was loose. Once Plummer got up in the air duct he crawled over the visitation room. He knew once he got to the other side, he was on his way to freedom. He popped down through the vent on the family side of the visitation room. And because of his past experience as a trustee, he knew there was a secure door, but it opened from the inside. He simply opened it, walked out and left through the front door of the Justice Building.

    Sheriff Cannon said, "Him knowing where the duct work goes, that's what led to this. The knowledge." And because of his long history, deputies have lots of knowledge on Plummer.

   They've been to his trailer in Wildwood many times. "Since last night actually, cops in and out and stuff," Adam Edwards said this afternoon. Edwards lives next door and says he's never had a problem with this fugitive. "He seemed like a good guy to me, he never got in trouble with me."

 But Plummer's got some trouble waiting for him. He has warrants for escape, three counts of interference with government property, theft and fleeing charges. The escape charge carries a ten year penalty. Sheriff Cannon adds he felt his officers followed protocol, but some structural changes will happen inside the jail.