Update: K-9 officers, officials capture escaped inmate in Rutherford County

SPINDALE, N.C. (WLOS) — UPDATE, 6:15 p.m. Sunday: K-9 officers and members of the prison emergency response team from N.C. Department of Adult Correction capture escaped inmate Roy Buff at around 6 p.m. Sunday, April 28, five hours after he left Rutherford Correctional Center during family visitation.

Officials say officers found Buff less than a mile from the prison at a business along Old Ballpark Road in Spindale.

Buff will be taken to a higher security prison facility and will face escape charges, officials said.

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Law enforcement officials and corrections officers are actively searching for an escaped inmate from Rutherford Correctional Center.

Shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday, April 28, inmate Roy Steven Buff, 33, left the prison during family visitation, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.

Buff is described as a white male standing 5'7" tall and weighing about 180 pounds, with a bald head and tattoos on his face and neck. He was last seen wearing green pants and a gray shirt.

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Buff is serving three years for an assault conviction and was scheduled for release in May 2025.

Multiple agencies from Rutherford County and the Department of Correction are attempting to locate Buff.

Spindale Police Department asks anyone who sees Buff or has information on his whereabouts to immediately call 911.

Rutherford Correctional Center in Spindale is a minimum-security prison for men nearing the end of their sentences.