Inmate escapes from Parchman

An inmate with a history of jail escapes has escaped from the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

Posted: Jul 5, 2019 7:49 AM

Updated: Jul 8, 2019 10:20 AM

Posted By: Craig Ford

JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - An inmate with a history of jail escapes has escaped from the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

Someone noticed after 3 a.m. Friday during an inmate count that Benny Ray Blansett was missing from Unit 30.

Blansett, 59, was last seen wearing a white shirt with the words “MDOC Convict” on the back as well as black and white striped pants.

UPDATE: Benny Ray Blansett is in custody

He stands 5-feet-11-inches tall and weighs 159 pounds.

The inmate was serving a life sentence for a couple of forgeries, two jail escapes, a burglary and assaulting a police officer.

All but one conviction were in Marion County. One jail escape conviction was in Sunflower County.

Mississippi Coronavirus Cases

Data is updated nightly.

Cases: 320174

Reported Deaths: 7390

County	Cases	Deaths
DeSoto	22294	271
Hinds	20755	424
Harrison	18450	317
Rankin	13923	282
Jackson	13733	249
Madison	10273	225
Lee	10063	176
Jones	8473	167
Forrest	7837	153
Lauderdale	7263	242
Lowndes	6523	150
Lamar	6362	88
Lafayette	6314	121
Washington	5427	138
Bolivar	4841	133
Panola	4671	110
Oktibbeha	4663	98
Pearl River	4606	148
Marshall	4574	105
Warren	4440	121
Pontotoc	4259	73
Monroe	4162	136
Union	4158	77
Neshoba	4065	180
Lincoln	4009	113
Hancock	3876	87
Leflore	3516	125
Tate	3425	86
Sunflower	3394	91
Pike	3373	111
Alcorn	3274	74
Scott	3203	74
Yazoo	3145	71
Adams	3084	86
Itawamba	3051	78
Copiah	2999	66
Coahoma	2990	84
Simpson	2986	89
Tippah	2922	68
Prentiss	2842	61
Leake	2723	74
Marion	2712	80
Covington	2672	83
Wayne	2648	42
Grenada	2640	87
George	2524	51
Newton	2490	64
Tishomingo	2323	69
Winston	2302	82
Jasper	2221	48
Attala	2151	73
Chickasaw	2106	59
Holmes	1905	74
Stone	1887	33
Clay	1879	54
Tallahatchie	1800	41
Clarke	1789	80
Calhoun	1742	32
Yalobusha	1679	40
Smith	1641	34
Walthall	1354	47
Greene	1318	34
Lawrence	1312	24
Montgomery	1286	43
Noxubee	1280	34
Perry	1275	38
Amite	1263	42
Carroll	1223	30
Webster	1150	32
Jefferson Davis	1083	34
Tunica	1081	27
Claiborne	1031	30
Benton	1023	25
Humphreys	975	33
Kemper	967	29
Franklin	850	23
Quitman	823	16
Choctaw	791	18
Wilkinson	696	32
Jefferson	663	28
Sharkey	509	17
Issaquena	169	6
Unassigned	0	0

Alabama Coronavirus Cases

Cases: 549013

Reported Deaths: 11311

County	Cases	Deaths
Jefferson	81046	1571
Mobile	42145	831
Madison	35718	525
Tuscaloosa	26179	458
Shelby	25626	254
Montgomery	25089	614
Baldwin	21901	314
Lee	16287	176
Calhoun	14724	327
Morgan	14639	285
Etowah	14183	364
Marshall	12454	230
Houston	10791	287
Elmore	10301	214
Limestone	10188	157
St. Clair	10161	251
Cullman	9958	201
Lauderdale	9612	250
DeKalb	8977	190
Talladega	8462	184
Walker	7341	280
Autauga	7242	113
Jackson	6953	113
Blount	6950	139
Colbert	6415	140
Coffee	5638	127
Dale	4930	116
Russell	4549	41
Chilton	4478	116
Franklin	4317	82
Covington	4279	122
Tallapoosa	4144	155
Escambia	4018	80
Chambers	3728	124
Dallas	3610	158
Clarke	3531	61
Marion	3245	107
Pike	3145	78
Lawrence	3134	100
Winston	2835	72
Bibb	2685	64
Geneva	2584	81
Marengo	2506	65
Pickens	2370	62
Barbour	2345	59
Hale	2271	78
Butler	2246	71
Fayette	2189	62
Henry	1944	43
Randolph	1876	44
Cherokee	1873	45
Monroe	1806	41
Washington	1707	39
Macon	1630	51
Clay	1601	59
Crenshaw	1563	57
Cleburne	1536	44
Lamar	1469	37
Lowndes	1422	54
Wilcox	1269	30
Bullock	1245	42
Conecuh	1136	30
Coosa	1116	29
Perry	1086	26
Sumter	1058	32
Greene	936	34
Choctaw	621	25
Out of AL	0	0
Unassigned	0	0

Tupelo

Clear

74°

Hi: 86° Lo: 59°

Feels Like: 74°

More Weather

Columbus

Clear

72°

Hi: 86° Lo: 61°

Feels Like: 72°

More Weather

Oxford

Clear

70°

Hi: 85° Lo: 55°

Feels Like: 70°

More Weather

Starkville

Clear

72°

Hi: 84° Lo: 59°

Feels Like: 72°

More Weather

High pressure still tries to hang on to our area on Thursday, however a weak warm front will change the dominance of high pressure. This weak cold front will give us a chance for some isolated showers and thunderstorms at times.