Escaped prison inmate crashes and dies in stolen work truck

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- An escaped inmate in North Carolina died Monday after crashing a stolen truck.

Officials said the inmate, identified as David Woods, was away from the prison on work detail when he drove off in a pickup truck.

Woods was reported missing just before 1 p.m.

"I (saw) that truck just going into the air and flipping over and over and over, and it went into this ravine," witness Ruth Varney told WSOC-TV. "After that you just (saw) a bunch of dirt and smoke and everything. It was just pretty devastating."

The North Carolina Department of Corrections said Woods was a minimum custody inmate at Gaston Correctional Center.

He was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.