Where is Rafael McCloud?

Dozens of law enforcement officers are combing Vicksburg, Warren County and areas across the river in Louisiana trying to answer that very question.

McCloud, 34, who is charged with capital murder in the brutal rape and shooting death of Sharen Wilson, 69, of Vicksburg, was waiting his June trial date in the Warren County Jail.

Wilson’s body was found on the property of the abandoned Kuhn Hospital building.

On Wednesday morning, McCloud allegedly used a homemade shank to hold a Warren County jail employee hostage. He made the jailer undress and escaped wearing his clothing.

An intensive manhunt, involving officers from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, the Vicksburg Police, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, the U.S. Marshal Service, Mississippi Wildlife and Fisheries agents and use use of Metro One, the Department of Public Safety’s helicopter, began immediately.

“We have centered our search today (Thursday) basically in the general area we were yesterday — northeast Vicksburg,” said Walter Armstrong, Vicksburg Police chief.

Armstrong thinks McCloud is still in the Vicksburg area.

“He was certainly here at one point in time because we know he changed pants,” Armstrong said.

Officers searching at about 2 a.m. Thursday morning found McCloud’s green pants. However, Armstrong would not say where the pants were located.

“That in itself tells us he was in the area,” he said.

The search will continue for McCloud, Armstrong said.

“We are going to stay out there. We will have boots on the ground until we find him,” he said.

Armstrong said authorities have received numerous tips from the public on possible sightings of McCloud.

“We had numerous call-ins and possible sightings, but none of them have panned out. In some instances we’ve found the individuals people were calling about, some we haven’t,” Armstrong said. “We want them to continue to call.”

He said calls to CrimeStoppers are “100 percent anonymous” and a $7,500 reward for information leading to McCloud’s apprehension is being offered.

Armstrong also issued a warning.

“We want the public to know anyone caught harboring a fugitive will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are going to seek out those individuals and make sure they are prosecuted if they are part of a crime,” he said.

Armstrong also asked that citizens check on people they know who live alone.

“If he has committed a crime on a person who lives alone, like he did on Ms. Wilson, he may do that again and we would go a while without anyone knowing it. Please check on individuals you know who live by themselves,” he said.

Law enforcement will have a strong presence around the clock until McCloud is caught, he said.

“Our goal is to catch Rafael before he hurts someone else,” Armstrong said. “We need him off the streets in the jail cell where he belongs.”