Law enforcement is searching for a suspect who escaped from a private prisoner transport and is now tied to the murders of two people from Temple, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office said 44-year-old Cedric Joseph Marks has warrants out for the murders of Michael Swearingin, 32, and Jenna Scott, 28, who went missing in early January. 

Their bodies were found over one week later in Clearview, Oklahoma.

The escaped prisoner was last seen wearing an orange jumpsuit and restraints in the 800 block of North Loop 336 West in Conroe, TX. The Conroe Police Department is aiding in the search, they got a call at around 7:20 a.m. Sunday morning from Texas Prisoner Transport Services who said Marks escaped their transport van. Authorities said in a press conference Sunday that the transport van was stopped at a McDonald’s restaurant at 801 North Loop 336 West in Conroe when Marks escaped on foot going east. 

Authorities at the press conference Sunday said they don’t expect Marks to still have restraints on him, though they said it’s possible he still could have them on. 

Marks was in transport from Grand Rapids Michigan after being captured by the U.S. Marshall’s office for a warrant for burglarizing his former girlfriend’s home in August of 2018. His ex-girlfriend went missing in January and her body (as well as the body of her friend) were found in Oklahoma. 

According to a post from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Marks has three pending murder charges against him. They also report that Marks is a professional MMA fighter and is considered extremely dangerous.

According to KPRC in Houston, the private transport van which Marks was in stopped at a McDonald’s to get food. When they get back to the van, they saw Cedric’s shackles and shirt were in the back of the van and he was gone. 

Marks was arrested in Kent County, Michigan, Jan. 8 on a burglary warrant out of Temple related to breaking into his former girlfriend Jenna Scott’s home. Scott was one of the two friends who went missing from Temple and were later found dead in Oklahoma.

Kent County jail officials told KXAN’s sister station FOX44 a transfer company picked Marks up at 10:46am Central Thursday morning to bring him back to Texas.

Marks waived extradition earlier this month.

Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin were last seen together at Swearingin’s Temple home, and were reported missing Jan. 4. One day later, Swearingin’s car was found in Austin.  Marks wife was arrested for harboring him in Michigan after this happened and his girlfriend was arrested  for “tampering with evidence”, an affidavit says Marks’ girlfriend was involved with  “leaving Swearingin’s vehicle in Austin in hopes to conceal it from law enforcement.”

On Tuesday, Marks’ girlfriend returned to Bell County after being arrested in Muskegon, Michigan.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who sees Marks to contact law enforcement immediately. They say that Marks was not in their custody at the time he escaped. MCSO advised the public to follow their social media for updates. 

The police department in Bloomington Minnesota has been made aware of these developments as well. Bloomington Police Deputy Chief Mike Hartley told KXAN Sunday that Marks is a person of interest (but not a suspect) in the case of his former girlfriend’s disappearance in 2009 in Minnesota. April Pease disappeared in September 2009. She and Marks had a child together. 

“Our investigators are in touch with local authorities in Texas, we will follow up on any lead that comes,” Hartley told KXAN Sunday.

(Information from KXAN.com)