The S.C. Department of Corrections is searching for an inmate who walked away from the minimum security Coastal Pre-Release Center in Charleston, on Monday. Vernon Edward Gardner, 42, was discovered missing from the institution about 12:30 p.m.

Authorities are investigating the death of a 29-year-old inmate at a maximum security prison east of Columbia.

An employee at a maximum-security prison in South Carolina appeared physically unharmed after being held hostage by an inmate for two hours.