Rafael McCloud remained on the lam as authorities from county, city, state and federal agencies continued searching for the fugitive Friday in the north central area of Vicksburg, including revisiting the Kuhn Memorial Hospital property, where McCloud is accused of killing Sharen Wilson, and where officers Thursday found a pair of pants he took from a county jail guard.

McCloud, 34, who is awaiting trial for capital murder and other charges in the June 28 abduction and death of Sharen Wilson, escaped from the jail about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday after using a shank, or homemade knife, to assault and overpower one of the three guards on duty at the jail.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said officers were looking in several areas of town, adding deputies are working double shifts until McCloud is caught and returned to jail. Authorities began their search Friday at Kuhn, going through each building on the property floor-by-floor, but found nothing.

Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said Friday authorities believe McCloud is still in Vicksburg.

“Rafael was an inmate in the Warren County Jail,” he said at a Friday morning press conference. “He had no car, he had no money. If he has left this community, that means someone has aided him in doing so.”

Anyone caught helping McCloud, he said, will be prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law.

“Everyone knows he has escaped from jail and we want him back in custody. It’s very important that we capture Rafael McCloud before anyone else get injured.”

Armstrong and Pace both asked residents to call 911 and Crimestoppers if they have any information on McCloud.

Crimestoppers is offering $2,500 for information on McCloud. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen sweetened that with an additional $5,000 at a special meeting Friday.

“We thought it was time for us to put some money up for help and assistance in catching Rafael,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said, adding the money comes from the city’s general fund budget.

“I just think we have to do everything we can to make sure our community is safe, and $5,000 is just a drop in the bucket in a $30 million budget,” he said. “We’re ready to do whatever we have to do to provide the resources to this community and to the law enforcement officers to make sure we can capture him.”

Flaggs also made an appeal to McCloud’s family.

“Help us to get this young man’s attention to turn himself in, and you can call me at 601-942-0492,” he said. We’ll try to assist in any way we can to make sure he is back in jail. It is absolutely important to this community that we end this chase and we can get him. We promise him due process wth the law. We just need to capture him.”

Pace said callers to 911 or Crimestoppers do not have to give their names.

“We just need the information,” he said. “We appreciate the city of Vicksburg stepping up and adding to this reward that’s being offered for information.”

“Any amount of information about any suspicious suspects should be reported to 911 immediately, and we will follow up on those leads as we have done in the past,” Armstrong said. He said police and deputies have received many calls from residents saying they have sighted McCloud, but none of the leads have been successful.

“We have checked several buildings — commercial and residential property — and we will continue to do so,” he said. Police and deputies will continue to keep extra people on patrol until McCloud is captured.

“This is a joint effort,” Armstrong said. “I want to commend the city, county and state law enforcement officers who have come together for one goal, and that is to capture Rafael McCloud and put him back in a jail cell.

“We understand the community is very concerned about their safety, and they should be, but at the same time, we want this community to know that law enforcement has been working around the clock, 24 hours a day, and we will continue to have a strong presence until such time as this escapee is back into custody.”

McCloud, who had been in the Warren County Jail since his arrest June 29, was indicted in January on multiple counts involving Wilson’s death, and has prior felony convictions for auto burglary, grand larceny and armed robbery, according to court records.