By Mike Elswick
Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A convicted rapist and child abuser who also was serving prison time for assault and battery on a police officer and domestic abuse escaped from the Jess Dunn Correctional Center in Taft on Tuesday afternoon.
The Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information on Mark H. Riffey, 46, who also goes by the name of Mark Faulk. He escaped about 2 p.m., said Nick Mahoney, public information officer for the office.
He said Riffey is an Indian male, about 5 feet, 9 inches tall who weighs about 185 pounds with short brown hair, a goatee and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing gray pants, gray shirt and brown work boots.
Riffey was last seen in the area of Old Taft Road and 134th Street while cutting grass about 2 p.m. Tuesday, Mahoney said. Matt Elliott, spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, said Riffey was discovered missing during a 2 p.m. inmate count.
Riffey is serving time for child abuse, kidnapping, rape, assault and battery on a police officer and domestic abuse, he said. Those charges and others were filed in 2015 in Sequoyah County, Elliott said.
Muskogee County Sheriff Rob Frazier reminds anyone in the area not to pick up hitchhikers and to lock doors and windows. He also recommends people remove weapons and keys from vehicles and to call law enforcement if they see anything suspicious.
“It is unknown Riffey’s direction of travel, however he has ties to Sequoyah County,” Mahoney said. “Riffey should be considered dangerous.”
Anyone seeing Riffey is urged not to contact him, but to call 911 immediately and provide the best possible location and description, he said. Residents can call the Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office at (918) 687-0202 or 911, Mahoney said.
Elliott indicated Riffey is incarcerated for 10-year terms for child and assault and battery on a police officer; 12-year terms for kidnapping and rape by instrumentation and a three-year term in prison for domestic assault and battery.
According to DOC information, Riffey also had rape and domestic abuse convictions in Idaho.
You can help
If you know the whereabouts of Mark Riffey, call 911 or Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office at (918) 687-0202.
©2018 the Muskogee Phoenix (Muskogee, Okla.)