Authorities are on a nationwide lookout for member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who allegedly helped a murder suspect escape from jail in North Carolina.

Anita Kaye Vestal, 32, was a detention officer in Swain County, where Jeffery Czechonna Miles, 27, was being held on first-degree murder charges. Authorities say Vestal fled with Czechonna on Saturday afternoon.

Vestal is the niece of Larry Blythe, the vice chief of the Eastern Band. “We remain deeply concerned about Anita,” her family said in a statement, The Asheville Citizen-Times reported.

Vestal started working at the jail last October, the paper said. She is married with four children.

Get the Story:
Sheriff: Jailer had help in escape operation (The Asheville Citizen-Times 3/24)