Convicted killer, 85, escapes from prison near Montreal; police search underway

Ricardo Vilcher, 85, was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder when he escaped from Archambault Institution in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Que. (Source: Correctional Service of Canada)

A search is underway after an 85-year-old convicted murder escaped from a Quebec prison.

The Correctional Service of Canada said that Ricardo Vilches was unaccounted for during the noon head count Monday at Archambault Institution, a minimum security institution in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Que., about 40 kilometres north of Montreal.

The prisoner is serving an indeterminate sentence for second-degree murder. The CSC contacted Quebec provincial police who issued a warrant for his arrest.

Vilches is about five feet five inches tall, weighs approximately 169 pounds, has a medium complexion, brown eyes, grey hair and a scar on his nose.

“CSC will investigate the circumstances of this incident and is working with the police to locate the offender as quickly as possible,” the agency said in a news release.

“CSC has given the police all of the information available to help arrest the inmate.”

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact police.