Two women at the end of last week escaped from a Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) facility in Chattanooga.
“The Tennessee Department of Correction is asking for the public’s help in locating two inmates who walked away from the Chattanooga Release Center Friday night and are now listed as absconders,” according to TDOC.
“Katelyn Standifer, 26, was serving a three-year sentence for theft out of Knox County. Ashley Wardlaw, 36, was serving a four-year sentence for theft out of Davidson County,” TDOC said. “The women were to serve the remainder of their sentences at the Chattanooga Release Center prior to their scheduled releases in 2023.”
The Chattanooga Release Center is a transitional program that helps female inmates with re-entry into society, according to TDOC.
“Within months of release from incarceration, women are transported from prison to The Next Door Chattanooga’s Correctional Release Center,” the government agency’s website says. “While at the Correctional Release Center (CRC), women work toward gaining job and life skills that will assist in a productive re-entry into society. Gaining employment, participating in group therapy, and working closely with their case manager on an individualized treatment plan are all ways in which CRC clients are able to better prepare themselves for release.”
TDOC did not return a request for comment seeking clarification about the exact circumstances of the escape, and why the women were in the “Release Center” despite having at least six months of incarceration left.
The inmates remained at large at the time of publication.
TDOC has had multiple escapes in 2022 alone.
In February, three men escaped through an HVAC air vent at the Sullivan County Jail.
Two of those inmates were found dead days later in Wilmington, North Carolina. The circumstances of their deaths remain unknown.
The third inmate was arrested in North Carolina shortly thereafter.
Last month, Michael Vernon White, a TDOC prison guard at DeBerry Special Needs Facility in Nashville, was arrested on charges of possessing child pornography.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Female Prisoner” by Officer Bimblebury. CC BY-SA 4.0.
