Correction commissioner Scott Semple says authorities believe 25-year-old Jerry Mercado may have stowed away in the undercarriage of a garbage truck or state vehicle to make his escape from the Carl Robinson Correctional Institution on Sunday.

Mercado was discovered missing during a routine facility count at about 3 p.m.

The building was placed in lockdown. Enfield is about 21 miles north of Hartford.

Mercado is classified as a low-risk offender. He was sentenced in August 2016 to three years for burglary.

Semple says the department has identified “vulnerabilities” in its security practices which may have contributed to the escape.