A multi-agency manhunt is underway after an inmate escaped a North Carolina jail by sneaking through the ventilation system.
John Matthew Nigh, 37, went missing from his cell some time around 4 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Craven County Sheriff’s Office.
“A search determined that the inmate, assisted by his two cellmates, had removed a ceiling grating, entered a utility ceiling chase and exited the roof through a ventilation housing,” the sheriff’s office said. “The cellmates concealed his escape by stuffing a mattress, making it appear that he was sleeping in his cell.”
A “Be on the Lookout” alert was issued for Nigh, who cops described as a 6-foot-2 white male weighing around 190 pounds. He has a beard and tattoos — a cross on his upper right arm and the letters “JMN” on his upper left arm.
“Nigh has been armed in past encounters with law enforcement officers and should be considered dangerous,” the sheriff’s office said, adding that the U.S. Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force has joined in the search.
Nigh was being held at the Craven County Jail in New Bern on attempted murder charges. He was arrested in June 2024 after allegedly shooting at deputies who were trying to arrest him on felony larceny charges.
None of the officers were struck in the shooting.