SEDALIA - Law enforcement are searching for a Missouri Department of Corrections inmate who escaped Tuesday afternoon. According to Pettis County Sheriff Brad Anders, Jason M. Laird was last seen around 4 p.m. on the outer campground of the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia. He was working the grounds when he escaped. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, gray pants and black boots, and his last known direction of travel west from fairgrounds. A K-9 unit tracked him about half a mile west towards Walnut Hills before losing scent. He may have had at least an hour and a half head start, and located evidence to suggest he traveled westbound, and is believed to have been on foot at least for a mile.