Indian Springs inmate escapes

A man serving a 12-year sentence at the Southern Desert Correctional Center for being a habitual criminal escaped early Friday and remained at large today.

A spokesman for the Nevada Department of Prisons said Rob B. Bell, 39, was discovered missing from the medium-security facility during a routine prisoner count at 11:30 a.m. He last was seen when he reported to work in the institution's laundry room four hours earlier.

Bell was sent to the Indian Springs-based prison north of Las Vegas in May 1989 for two counts of robbery with the use of a deadly weapon. He was paroled in 1992 and returned to prison last year for parole violations.

Officials described the escapee as a white man, 5-feet-9, 135 pounds with brown eyes and short brown hair that is receding. He had a beard and mustache when he left the prison and was wearing a prison-issue blue work shirt and blue denim trousers.

The letters "LOA" are tattooed on one of his hands, said the prison spokesman.

A prison department official said today that Metro Police followed several leads over the weekend on Bell's potential whereabouts.

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