A man detained by the Oregon Department of Corrections left a work group in southeast Salem on Monday and has not been found.

TJH Bennett, 44, was part of a city of Salem crew working near the corner of Southeast 46th Place and Southeast Red Cherry Court. A DOC statement said he left around 3 p.m.

The statement describes Bennett as a white male, weighing 165 pounds, 5’8″ tall, with hazel eyes and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt, orange vest and blue jeans.

The DOC’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit is working with state police to locate Bennett.

Bennett began serving a sentence for first-degree burglary last October at Santiam Correctional Institution, a minimum-security prison in Salem.

The facility serves people who are released from prison within four years of their release and focuses on providing employment opportunities, often with state agencies or local organizations within a 60-mile radius of Salem.

The DOC said in a statement that people should not approach Bennett if they see him.

Anyone with information on Bennett’s whereabouts can call state police at 1-800-452-7888 or the Fugitive Apprehension Unit at 503-569-0734. People can also call the Salem Police Department’s non-emergency number: 503-588-6123.

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: (email protected).

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Madeleine Moore is a reporter at the Salem Reporter as part of the University of Oregon’s Charles Snowden Internship Program. She came to Salem after graduating from the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in June 2024.