VINITA, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma prison officials say an inmate who escaped earlier this week from a minimum-security lockup has been found dead behind a storage area on the edge of the prison grounds.

Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman Matt Elliott said Friday that investigators believe 52-year-old Ricky Bauders took his own life, but he declined to comment further, citing an ongoing investigation.

Bauders was reported missing on Tuesday after he was seen running away from the Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center in Vinita, about 57 miles (92 kilometers) northeast of Tulsa.

Bauders w...