McArthur Deashy Mathis was last seen at the Cross Creek Psychiatric & Addiction Hospital in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Authorities said he kicked the back door open and jumped over a 6-foot fence.
"To be blunt about it, I wasn't really happy to be honest with you," Sowell said.
Mathis had been arrested by the Grimes County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 2 for multiple warrants out of Victoria and additional charges from Grimes County.
"Not only does this individual have some tendencies to be violent possibly, actually with his background," Sowell said. "He's out there in the public, and we have a public safety issue, and I worry some innocent person may be victimized."
Four months after Mathis' arrest, on May 21, he was taken to the Cross Creek Psychiatric & Addiction Hospital in Austin, Texas, and was left in their custody. Seven days later, he would escape.
But this is not the first time something like this has occurred. In a separate incident in March, Scott Evan Shepple broke free from the Cypress Creek Behavioral Hospital, sparking a large manhunt in the area. Shepple was eventually found the next day near a hotel.
According to authorities, Mathis is a registered sex offender and is known to have contacts in Grimes, Lavaca, Brazos, and Gonzalez counties.
The search for Mathis is ongoing, but not without questions about how this could have happened. Sowell said he also wants to know why it took so long for them to find out about Mathis' escape.
Sowell said the escape happened Wednesday night, but he didn't find out about it until Thursday during the "mid-morning," After the first escape, the sheriff said he would never go back to that same facility.
With another escape at a different facility, Sowell is once again looking for another hospital.
"We'll find another one," Sowell explained. "I may personally drive up there and check it out before we use it."
ABC13 contacted the hospital in Austin, and wanted to know how the inmate escaped, and how quickly they notified authorities.
Someone took down our information, but so far, ABC13 hasn't heard back.
If you have any information on where Mathis is, you can contact the Grimes County Sheriff's Office at 936-873-2151, Grimes County CrimeStoppers at (936) 873-2000, or through an online tip.
For updates on this story, follow Nick Natario on Facebook, X and Instagram.