By Sydney Brownstone

The Seattle Times

Three law enforcement agencies, plus 23 Washington Department of Corrections personnel, are searching for an inmate who escaped from the minimum-security Olympic Corrections Center near Forks on Sunday morning.

State corrections officials say 60-year-old Mark David Vannausdle escaped on his way to the dining facility shortly after 7 a.m.

Vannausdle was serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of first-degree assault and armed robbery in Pierce County in 2002.

The Department of Corrections said the search is concentrating on the Olympic National Forest that surrounds the facility. Officials are watching highways near the facility and combing the forest in concentric circles, a DOC spokesperson said.

Court records show that Sunday’s escape wasn’t Vannausdle’s first try. In 2004, Vannausdle pleaded guilty to attempted escape from the McNeil Island Corrections Center after an officer discovered a 10-foot-long ladder made of shoelaces and wood scraps among his personal items, according to charging documents.

Officials are warning people not to approach Vannausdle if they see him, and to immediately call 911 if they do.