An inmate who walked away from a work site west of Bend on Tuesday afternoon was still at large as of Wednesday night.

Jason Michael Donaldson, 36, was working on a fuels reduction project in the Phil’s Trail area with other inmates from the Deer Ridge Correctional Institution when he went missing at around 2 p.m., according to the state Department of Corrections. Donaldson was with one of two crews of 10 inmates each, each supervised by a single guard as required by department policy, according to Deer Ridge spokeswoman Marissa Wilson.

Donaldson was sent to Deer Ridge in December, after he was sentenced in Lane County on charges of theft, burglary and criminal mischief. He was due to remain in prison until at least June 2016.

Wilson said Donaldson met all of the criteria for being part of a crew working off prison grounds. Eligible inmates must be housed in a minimum security facility, be within four years of their projected release date and have a clean disciplinary record in the prison, she said.

Donaldson’s disappearance was discovered during a routine inmate head count, Wilson said, which under Department of Corrections policy must take place at least every 30 minutes. Wilson said when the corrections officer discovered Donaldson was missing, all of the inmates were gathered together and taken back to Deer Ridge.

Wilson said she did not know if Donaldson had been part of a work crew that left the prison previously, or if he had friends or family members in Central Oregon who could be assisting him.

The escape prompted Bend-La Pine Schools to share information about Donaldson with all schools in the district. Employees at schools on the west side of Bend were advised to be extra vigilant on playgrounds and common areas, said district spokeswoman Julianne Repman.

Steven Hill, principal at Miller Elementary School, said he took extra precautions Wednesday; his school is less than two miles from where Donaldson went missing. Hill said doors and gates that would ordinarily be left unlocked were secured Wednesday, though students and staff were not subjected to a full lockdown. Parents of Miller students also received automated phone messages alerting them of the situation.

Jeff Wilmot passed the inmate work crews on his mountain bike around the time Donaldson escaped. While riding along the KGB trail around 1:30 p.m., Wilmot encountered the officer supervising Donaldson’s group, then saw several inmates working in groups of two and three scattered out over a few hundred yards.

Wilmot said the Department of Corrections could have made a better effort to inform people using the trails in the area of the presence of the inmate work crew.

“I’m surprised they didn’t have a sign up, you’re out there with all the girls riding bikes and running by themselves,” Wilmot said. “I know they screen them for sexual crimes and all of that, but knocking somebody off a bike and stealing their bike, that’d be a way to make a lot of distance really quickly.”

Sgt. Eric Judah, a spokesman with Oregon State Police, said his agency is continuing to investigate Donaldson’s disappearance, though less visibly than on Tuesday when tracking dogs and a search plane were deployed in the Phil’s Trail area.

“An investigation can be boots on the ground looking behind trees, or on the Internet, or following leads, things like that,” Judah said. “There is an active investigation going on.”

Wilson said it would be up to Deschutes County District Attorney Patrick Flaherty to bring charges against Donaldson for escape.

When he was last seen, Donaldson was wearing a blue undershirt, an orange long-sleeve shirt, blue jeans — all of which were stenciled with the word “inmate” and the Department of Corrections logo — and brown work boots. He is approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall and 175 pounds with brown hair, brown eyes and tattoos on his arms, shoulder and right ankle.

Anyone with information about Donaldson is advised to contact the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office at 541-693-6911.