A man and woman were charged Monday morning in connection with an apparent escape that Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department authorities said occurred Saturday night.

    LCSD Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun said Monday afternoon Billy D. Wansley, 29, of Florence, has been charged with felony escape. Wansley is a Mississippi Department of Corrections inmate who was staying at the Hilltop Facility on Highway 39 North as part of an inmate worker program, Calhoun said. He said the program is designed to help inmates work off sentences.

    According to the MDOC website, Wansley was entered into the prison system Oct. 13, 2010, after being convicted of two counts of forgery out of Rankin County.

    The second subject, Vivian C. Tingle, 41, of 1978 Russell Mt. Gilead Road, Meridian, has been charged with felony aiding an escape. She was placed on $5,000 bond but has since posted bond and is currently out of jail.

    Calhoun said at about 9:45 p.m. Saturday, a Meridian Police Department patrolman driving north on Highway 39 North noticed a vehicle parked in the median across from the inmate facility. The officer also noticed a man run across the roadway, dressed in shorts, a shirt and jacket. Calhoun said the officer observed the man get into the truck and the truck leave heading south.

    “This officer did a great job of going with his instincts and he followed through on trying to find out what was going on,” Calhoun said. “We here at the sheriff’s office are glad he did.”

    The officer stopped the truck and discovered the male subject was indeed an inmate. He placed both Wansley and Tingle into custody and notified sheriff’s department authorities.

    “Wansley was wearing a shirt and jacket with MDOC inmate on the back so it was obvious to the officer what was going on at the time,” said Calhoun. “It was just good police work and it saved us a lot of time.”