CONCORD – State Department of Corrections officials and State Police are searching for missing transitional housing unit inmate John Robert Griffin Jr., who was convicted of robbing a Merrimack bank while wearing a President Barack Obama mask in 2013.

Griffin, 57, is serving his sentence as a work release resident of the North End Transitional Housing Unit in Concord, according to DOC spokesman Jeff Lyons. Lyons said Griffin walked away from the facility at 9 a.m. Wednesday, reportedly to look for employment, but failed to return at his scheduled time.

Lyons said DOC officials put Griffin on escape status at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Griffin made headlines first for robbing the Bank of America branch in Merrimack wearing the Obama mask and espousing his political views, then for odd courtroom conduct that exasperated a judge, the prosecutor and even his own attorney.

Police and DOC officials ask the public to contact either agency if they see Griffin, who is described as a white male, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 185 pounds, with gray hair and blue eyes.

-DEAN SHALHOUP

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