A convicted killer who walked away from a Mission, B.C. prison over the weekend remains on the loose, and Corrections Canada says it's too focused on finding him to comment on his escape.
Staff at the minimum-security unit of Mission Institution realized 48-year-old Michael Douglas Sheets was missing during a head count Saturday evening. Police have since issued a warrant for his arrest.
People who live near the prison say these kinds of escapes happen all too often. Another convict, John Norman Mackenzie, escaped in early August and still hasn't been found.
"We've only been here five months and there's three guys that have escaped since we've been here," said Mission resident Art Camozzi.
Sheets was convicted in the firebombing of a Calgary townhouse back in November 2014 that killed two young siblings and injured their mother. He was hired to torch the home as part of a love affair revenge plot.
Though Sheets' crime is disturbing, Mission Mayor Randy Hawes said he's hopeful the convict is long gone and unable to pose a danger to any locals. He told CTV News that escapees usually try to get as far away from the prison as possible.
"They don't tend to stick around," he said. "The danger to us here as residents is very minimal."
Hawes said Corrections Canada alerted him immediately after Sheets' escape, and assured the mayor that the convict is not considered a sexual predator.
"Is this man going to pose a danger to kids? (Is he) a sexual predator-type guy? The answer I got was no," Hawes said.
The convict's disappearance is still troubling, particularly because it's not his first time he's escaped. Sheets managed to get out of the William Head Institution on Vancouver Island back in February 2015, adding a conviction for escaping lawful custody to his record.
Corrections Canada would not comment on the escape Monday, telling CTV News staff at Mission Institution were too busy trying to find the two missing inmates.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Nafeesa Karim
