The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office is searching for an 18-year-old inmate who walked away from a minimum security work-release facility.

The sheriff's office said in a news release deputies believe Marcus Dupuis walked away Thursday while other work-release inmates were being escorted to work assignments during the early morning hours.

Dupuis is serving a five-year sentence for marijuana possession and has been in custody for six months.

Dupuis is from Lafayette, and investigators said they believe he is still in the area.

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