Police are searching for four inmates who escaped from the Columbiana County Jail in Lisbon overnight Sunday.

-Mark Foden, of East Liverpool, was jailed on robbery and drug charges;

-William Merritt, also of East Liverpool, was serving time for felonious assault;

-Jason Heffner, of Salineville, was convicted of burglary, theft, breaking and entering and receiving stolen property;

-John Hamilton, of Salem, was jailed for obstructing official business and failure to appear. All are white males.

Columbiana County Sheriff David Smith said the inmates were last seen around 1:30 a.m. about 10 miles from the jail.

Smith said he was not notified about the inmates' escape until 6 a.m. He said he believes the inmates had outside help, and his department is investigating inside the jail.

He said the inmates went into a storage closet, crawled through duct work that was just 2 feet wide at some parts, then climbed up to the roof where they jumped to their escape.

A Lisbon resident reported a car was stolen at 8:30 a.m. from Trinity Church Road. Smith said the theft is believed to be connected to the escape. The car is a 1995 dark green Buick with license plate number EKS 3665.

Anyone who has any information is asked to immediately call police.

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