VIDALIA — Authorities are searching for an inmate from the Concordia Parish Correctional Facility after he apparently slipped away on foot Monday night.

Muncy McAlister, 49, was supposed to be working with six other trusties at the correctional facility’s maintenance shop when he was discovered missing during a routine check on the inmates by a corrections officer, Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kathleen Stevens said.

McAlister, who is described as a 5-foot, 9-inch tall, 160 pound white male with short brown hair and hazel eyes, was believed to be gone for only 10 to 15 minutes before his absence was discovered.

At the time of his disappearance, McAlister was wearing blue jeans and a welding shirt with “CPCF” stamped on them.

McAlister was reportedly upset because he had received news earlier in the day his girlfriend had been beaten up.

“(McAlister) has been a model prisoner up to this time and was never considered a risk whatsoever,” Sheriff Randy Maxwell said in a statement. “I honestly believe that had he not received news about this girlfriend, he would have completed his sentence with no problems whatsoever.”

It is believed McAlister is trying to work his way to his girlfriend’s home in Clinton, and officials do not believe he received any help, Stevens said.

Originally sentenced on a simple burglary charge, McAlister has been incarcerated in Concordia Parish since 2006 and is not considered dangerous, Maxwell said.

The policy for trusties working at the correctional facility’s unenclosed maintenance area will immediately be changed.

“A corrections officer will be with them (the trusties) constantly now, instead of checking on them every few minutes,” Maxwell said.

McAlister’s name has been entered into the National Crime Information Center database and this incident will add at least another year to his sentence, Maxwell said.