Man charged in attorney's kidnapping escapes from Alabama prison, possibly with help

(AP) A man charged in the videotaped kidnapping of a lawyer who was grabbed at gunpoint outside her downtown loft has escaped from prison, possibly with help, authorities said Friday.

Authorities tried using tracking dogs to hunt for Dedrick Griham, but they lost his scent at a road outside the lockup. Officials said they did not know where he was headed.

Griham, who has a long criminal record and apparently was out on parole by mistake at the time of the abduction, is accused of rape, sodomy and robbery in the May 31 kidnapping, which was captured by a parking lot surveillance camera as the lawyer got out of her car.

The abduction drew wide notice as the videotape, which shows a man approaching and pushing her inside before driving off, was aired on cable television a short time after it occurred.

The woman's ordeal ended that afternoon when she was rescued from a motel room where law officers said she had been held against her will.

The woman, whose isn't being named because of the sex-assault charges, was not in her law office but was safe Friday, a firm employee said.

Griham, 35, apparently fled Staton prison in central Alabama's Elmore County on Thursday night by cutting through a fence, FBI agent Paul Daymond said.

He was discovered missing during a head count, and it was not clear much time had passed since the escape.

"He may have had outside assistance," said Daymond. "We don't know the direction of travel or what he was wearing."

Griham escaped the day after prosecutors unsealed an indictment accusing him of federal kidnapping and carjacking charges in the abduction. The federal charges, which carry a possible sentence of life imprisonment, were filed in addition to state charges of kidnapping, robbery, rape and sodomy.

An attorney for Griham, Eric Guster, said he didn't know if the escape was linked to the new charges, but he noted that there is no possibility of parole in the federal prison system.

"You have to remember that life means life in there," Guster said.

David Carpenter, a lawyer who previously represented Griham in the abduction case, said he was worried for his safety since the two parted on bad terms.

"He knows where I live, and I'm not staying at home until they catch him," said Carpenter. He said Griham is "extremely smart, but he's not well-educated."

Griham was paroled in August 2005 after serving about eight years in prison on a 20-year sentence for the armed holdup of three stores in Mobile County.

Mississippi authorities said Griham should have been sent there to serve probation on previous convictions. Alabama officials said Mississippi never filed papers seeking his return and waived a request to be notified of his parole.