Gibson Co. jail trustee walks away from work detail

GIBSON COUNTY, Tenn —  The Gibson County Sheriff’s office is searching for a jail trustee who walked off during a work detail Wednesday.

It was nearly an all day search for jail trustee David Madding. Although he is still on the run, authorities say they will not stop looking until he is in custody.

Officials confirmed trustee David Curtis Madding walked away from the job site, in the area of New Hope Road, around 8 a.m. Wednesday while working on a county litter crew.

“It’s just the nature of the beast. It’s a cat and mouse game,” Gibson County Sheriff Paul Thomas said.

The sheriff said while on his work detail Madding went down into a ditch, but when a supervisor went to check on him he was gone. Along with K-9 units, Gibson County Sheriff’s deputies had help from U.S. Marshals in the search for Madding.

“We just spent several hours out there today (Wednesday) just walking the ditches, looking in barns and culverts to see if we could find him,” Sheriff Thomas said.

Sheriff Thomas said Madding was jailed on charges of theft and robbery.

“Originally from Obion-Lake County area. We were actually housing him for Obion County jail.”

Although the search for Madding is still on, Sheriff Thomas said there were five other trustees on the crew who did not attempt to leave.

“We have far more good people that work in this program than we have bad,” Sheriff Thomas said. “And the reward to our trustee program has outweighed the bad moments we’ve had.”

Sheriff Thomas said while the litter crew has cleared around 123,000 pounds of trash from county roads, having a trustee walk away from a work detail is a risk every correctional facility can face.

“We’re not going to stop we will have Mr. Madding back in jail, I can promise you that,” Sheriff Thomas said.

Investigators say they do not believe Madding is armed, but if you see him do not approach him. Call your local law enforcement or Crime Stoppers.

Madding was last seen wearing tan jail-issued pants and a green shirt. If you have any information about his whereabouts call the Gibson County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch at (731) 692-3714.

Remember, you can remain anonymous.