Prisoner Michael Rennie at large after fleeing Lotus Glen prison farm on red tractor
Police believe Michael Graeme Rennie, 43, left Lotus Glen Low Custody Correctional Centre, about 100 kilometres west of Cairns, during a 90-minute window on Sunday.
Rennie, serving a sentence of more than six years and three months for serious assault, theft, burglary, drugs, weapons and driving offences, was last seen at 10:20am on Sunday.
At the time he was working at the prison farm driving a red Massey Ferguson tractor.
By midday, when a head count was conducted, Rennie was gone, police said.
"There have obviously been prisoners abscond from the correctional centre there in the past but I don't think anyone has left on a tractor before, " Detective Inspector Jason Chetham said.
"We certainly think he's likely to have left on it.
"We don't have specific concerns about what he might do in the community, not targeting anyone, but we certainly ask people not to approach him and to call us immediately if they have any information."
Detective Inspector Chetham said there had been "a number of sightings" of the tractor "but nothing is confirmed at this point in time".
Rennie was from far north Queensland and "doesn't have far to go to get to family", Detective Inspector Chetham said.
"We're looking at all his antecedents and who he might be keen to contact or attempt to contact," he said.
The Lotus Glen prison farm is part of a correctional centre located between the agricultural service towns of Mareeba and Atherton.
The low security facility is one of six prison farms in Queensland and accommodates 134 prisoners.
Prisoners undertake training programs at the farm to develop skills to help them find work once they are released.
Detective Inspector Chetham said he did not know the tractor's maximum speed but said it would not "turn a lot of heads" if seen on the road in the Atherton Tablelands.
Detective Inspector Chetham said police could call in its air wing to help find Rennie, although he declined to go into specifics of the search.
He also declined to comment on security arrangements and prisoner classification at the prison farm.
"They're not familiar to me and I'm not part of that department so that's probably a question for Corrective Services to answer," Detective Inspector Chetham said.
Queensland Corrective Services has been contacted for comment.
In February 2023, a 28-year-old man serving a two-year sentence absconded from the Lotus Glen prison farm.
He was arrested more than three days later.
There were also previous instances of prisoners escaping in 2020 and 2022.
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