St. Louis: Convicted Child Sex Offender Escapes from Mercy Hospital South
The inmate was transferred from a correctional facility to the hospital where he escaped while under the supervision of Missouri Department of Corrections officers.
Tommy Wayne Boyd, 45, was last seen leaving Mercy Hospital South wearing a black sweatshirt, black jacket, and orange slippers. (Left photo: Missouri Department of Corrections; Right photo: St. Louis County Police Department)
UPDATED 9/22/23:
A child sex offender who was transferred to Mercy Hospital South to receive medical treatment and escaped while under the watch of two Missouri Department of Corrections officers is now back in custody after an hours-long manhunt.
St. Louis County Police Department issued a statement on Facebook indicating 45-year-old Tommy Boyd, a convicted child sex offender serving a 30-year sentence for statutory sodomy, was taken into custody without incident outside a grocery store located approximately four miles from the hospital.
“Thank you to the media and our community who provided numerous tips to assist in locating this dangerous felon,” the post continued. “Our residents are safer tonight with Boyd in custody.”
The Missouri State Highway Patrol, State Department of Corrections, and U.S. Marshals Service assisted in the search of 45-year-old Tommy Wayne Boyd. Police employed flight operations and canine units, said St. Louis County Lieutenant Colonel Jason Law.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Police are searching for an inmate after he escaped police custody at Mercy Hospital South early Thursday morning.
Tommy Wayne Boyd, 45, was transported Wednesday from the Potosi Correctional Facility to the hospital to receive treatment, reports NBC News. He was being guarded by two Missouri Department of Corrections officers and was last seen by hospital personnel around 3:45 a.m., the St. Louis County Police Department (SLCPD) wrote in a Facebook post. Affton Southwest Precinct officers were alerted around 4:30 a.m. that he fled the building.
“There was no physical confrontation. No one was hurt and video surveillance, which we have shared with police, shows the escapee leaving the hospital,” a Mercy Hospital South spokesperson wrote in a statement Thursday morning. “Police searched campus and our security team searched all buildings on campus and found no evidence he is still here.”
Police said Boyd left the hospital on foot around 4 a.m. and traveled in an unknown direction. Officers were canvassing the area near the hospital Thursday morning, asking neighbors if they had seen Boyd and reviewing home security video. Police also urged residents to make sure their homes and garages were locked.
Boyd is described as a White male, 5’7″ and 154 pounds with balding hair and a beard. He has a scar on his right eye and tattoos on his chest and upper arms, according to the sex offender registry. Boyd was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black jacket, and orange slippers. It is unknown if he is armed but he should be considered dangerous, police said.
The Missouri Highway Patrol, which maintains the state’s sex offender registry, said Boyd was first convicted of a sex crime in Springfield in 1996 when he was 18. He pleaded guilty to statutory sodomy of an 11-year-old boy in 1997 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Ten years later, according to a summary of the case in the Missouri Court of Appeals, a 9-year-old boy in Greene County was pushing his bike on a sidewalk when Boyd approached him and said he’d give him money if he took him to nearby biking trails. Once they got to the trails, Boyd offered the boy more money, described the kind of sexual contact he wanted, and tried to pull down the boy’s pants. He was able to escape a run to a friend’s house, St. Louis Today reports.
Nearby Lindbergh Schools said it would implement lockout procedures Thursday but that schools will remain in session, according to KSDK. Exterior doors will remain locked throughout the day and additional security was present as students arrived. The district asked parents to consider driving students who normally walk and to use caution at bus stops. An elementary school is located right across the street from the hospital and two others are within a mile. Neighboring Mehlville School District also announced three of its schools that are within several miles of the hospital were taking similar precautions.
If anyone has information about Boyd’s whereabouts, they should contact St. Louis County Police at 636-529-8210. To remain anonymous, call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477. U.S. Marshals, the Department of Corrections, SLCPD, and the Highway Patrol are assisting in the search.
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About the Author
Amy Rock, Executive Editor
Amy is Campus Safety’s Executive Editor. Prior to joining the editorial team in 2017, she worked in both events and digital marketing.
Amy has many close relatives and friends who are teachers, motivating her to learn and share as much as she can about campus security. She has a minor in education and has worked with children in several capacities, further deepening her passion for keeping students safe.
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