$60,000 reward in search for escaped Georgia inmates

June 14 (UPI) -- The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced a $60,000 reward for help in capturing two escaped inmates accused of killing two correctional officers.

Authorities said Donnie Russell Rowe and Ricky Dubose overpowered Baldwin State Prison officers Sgt. Christopher Monica and Sgt. Curtis Billue on Tuesday morning after a prison bus arrived at a work detail along Georgia's Highway 16 between the towns of Eatonton and Sparta. One of the inmates disarmed the officers, shooting Monica and Billue, before escaping. Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said Rowe and Dubose then stole a vehicle in a carjacking; the unidentified driver was not injured.

The bus had 31 other inmates aboard, and Sills said the shooting incident was captured on video.

The pair allegedly broke into a home in the city of Madison later, stole clothes and food, and later entered a nearby Family Dollar store, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday. Some area businesses went on lockdown by late Tuesday.

A nationwide search was underway for the men, who have a history of violent crimes.

The FBI, the GBI and other agencies are offering the reward for information leading to the capture of Rowe and Dubose. GBI Director Vernon Keenan said the reward, of $30,000 for each man, is expected to increase as more groups seek to help in the search.