BUTLER, Alabama -- Law enforcement officials are searching for three men who escaped from a Choctaw County jail early Saturday, according to a report by the Choctaw Sun-Advocate. 
 
 After searching the immediate area around Butler, a city of about 2,000 residents in southwest Alabama, authorities have expanded the search for the three men -- Demarcus Woodard, 23; Germayel Culbert, 32; and Justin Terrell Gordon, 23, -- to other areas. 
 
 Both Woodard and Culbert were jailed for murder charges, and Gordon is charged for an armed robbery. 
 
 In a brief phone interview, Choctaw County Sheriff Tom Abate said the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service are assisting in the search. 
 
 "I've got three bad inmates, two capital murders and one armed robber, who are on foot. They took off from the jail," Abate said, adding he didn't have time to discuss the matter further. 
 
 According to a report from CNN this morning, authorities are looking for capital murder defendants Demarcus Woodward, 23, who is accused of killing a work release inmate, and Culbert, who allegedly participated in the killing of two people in a separate incident. 
 
 And Gordon was involved with the alleged armed robbery of a convenience store, according to the report 
 
 The inmates in the cell attacked the guard by choking him and stole his keys and cell phone before running away, Abate told CNN. 
 
 Tracking dogs led law enforcement about a quarter-mile along State Highway 17 in Butler, according to the report. Abate said he believes they got into a vehicle at that point. 
 
 The jail guard was treated and released at a local hospital, the sheriff told CNN. 
 
 Police urge anyone with information to call the Choctaw County Sheriff's Department at (205) 459-2166. 
 
 Reporter Martin Reed contributed to this report. 
 
 This report will be updated as more information becomes available. ||||| Story highlights State Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals involved in the manhunt 
 
 3 inmates are held in one cell; 1 screams, says another is sick, sheriff says 
 
 The inmates jump a jailer, then fled on foot, the Choctaw County Sheriff adds 
 
 The jailer, who was allegedly choked, was treated at a nearby hospital, he says 
 
 Two men charged with murder and another being held on armed robbery charges escaped early Saturday from a rural Alabama county jail, a local sheriff said. 
 
 The three were locked down together in a single cell around 2 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) when one started screaming, saying another of them was very sick, Choctaw County Sheriff Tom Abate said. The jailer looked through a porthole, saw someone vomiting, then opened the cell door. 
 
 When he did, the inmates jumped the jailer, stole his keys and cell phone, then fled on foot, according to Abate. 
 
 Local authorities using tracking dogs tracked the escaped inmates about one-quarter mile away down State Highway 17 in Butler, Alabama, where Abate said they were either picked up or had a vehicle waiting for them. 
 
 The two escapees who were being held on capital murder charges, for separate incidents, are 23-year-old Demarcus Woodward for allegedly fatally shooting a work release inmate and 32-year-old Gemayel Culbert for his involvement in the killing of two people at a private club in northern Choctaw County. The other escapee is Terrell Gordon, 23, who is charged with armed robbery in connection with a convenience store theft. 
 
 Alabama's state Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals from Mobile and local authorities all have roles in the manhunt. 
 
 The jailer who these inmates allegedly choked was treated and released at an area hospital, Abate said Saturday morning. 
 
 Choctaw County, with population of fewer than 14,000, is in southwestern Alabama, bordering Mississippi. ||||| (CNN) Just over a month ago, Kamron Taylor sat in an Illinois courtroom to hear a jury convict him of murder. 
 
 Early Wednesday morning, Taylor sat in an Illinois jail. Hiding outside his cell. Ready to pounce. 
 
 When he did, his victim was a correctional officer making his rounds, according to Kankakee County Sheriff Timothy Bukowski. Taylor beat up the guard, put on his uniform and took his keys. 
 
 He then walked out of the jail's door and into the officer's brown 2012 Chevrolet Equinox SUV. 
 
 Where the 23-year-old, who was set to be sentenced in May, is now is anybody's guess. The Equinox was discovered around 8:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m. ET) in Kankakee, but without any sign of the convicted murderer who drove it. 
 
 Looking for Taylor is job No. 1 for authorities. No. 2 is figuring out how he managed to first get out of his cell, then get out of the Jerome Combs Detention Center and on the lam. 
 
 "The question for us is where did (the county correctional system) break down," Bukowski said. "It looks right now (like) somebody didn't do their job properly." 
 
 Sheriff: Jail guard jumped, beaten and choked 
 
 What authorities do know is based on video, other evidence and interviews with witnesses -- namely other inmates at the Kankakee jail. 
 
 What they don't know is how Taylor got out of his two-man cell, when he should have been locked down. 
 
 But somehow he did, and hid. 
 
 "And then when the opportunity arose, he attacked the officer," Bukowski said, noting that Taylor "attacked from the side" around 3 a.m. "Beat him, choked him." 
 
 WANTED: ARMED & DANGEROUS; Kamron T Taylor of Kankakee. Call 911 with any info on his whereabouts! pic.twitter.com/nGkZmEAa9J — Kankakee Co Sheriff (@KankakeeSheriff) April 1, 2015 
 
 He then apparently disrobed the guard, a military veteran and 10-year employee of the corrections department. The guard was left on the jail floor, going in and out of consciousness, for about 35 minutes before authorities -- concerned because the guard hadn't responded to calls -- found him, the sheriff said. 
 
 "They then called the ambulance and we were notified and put out an alert," added Bukowski. 
 
 By then, Taylor was gone. He'd pushed a button to notify "master control" that he wanted to leave, which means his identity would have been checked by camera. 
 
 "We think that because he had the officer's uniform on," the sheriff explained, "that's how he was able to effectively escape." 
 
 Tried to escape right after his conviction 
 
 Taylor walked out the door and into the detention center's parking lot, where, authorities said, he clicked the correctional officer's key fob to find the Chevy Equinox. 
 
 That officer is now in an intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital in Kankakee, Bukowski said. 
 
 The manhunt, meanwhile, continues for Taylor. 
 
 Kamron Taylor is restrained after being found guilty of murder in February in Kankakee. 
 
 He has a history of trouble with the law that predates his murder conviction, including an August 2009 sentence of five years, 10 months in Tennessee for robbery and resisting arrest. 
 
 Taylor was on parole for that crime when he killed a man during a June 2013 botched robbery. 
 
 A jury convicted him of murder in that incident in late February. After the verdict was read, Taylor sat down, looked back, then got up and ran, according to The Daily Journal in Kankakee. Bailiffs and sheriff's deputies wrestled him to the ground, eventually leading him out of the courtroom as he cursed. 
 
 Now a $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his arrest. 
 
 The fact that he tried to get away once before and has been involved in fights "raises an alert, I guess," the Kankakee County sheriff said. 
 
 "But we figure that the people who are locked up in our facility aren't altar boys, and we take certain precautions for all of them," Bukowski added. "And you can't become complacent with anybody, especially murderers."
– The search is on in Alabama after two men charged with murder and another charged with armed robbery escaped their shared prison cell. Prior to the escape, one of the three began shouting in the cell, saying a cellmate was ill, the Choctaw County sheriff says. A guard checked up on them to find that one was throwing up, CNN reports. He opened the cell door, and the men attacked him, grabbing his keys and cell phone, the sheriff says. The guard was hospitalized and released after allegedly being choked. Now, authorities are looking for Demarcus Woodard, 23, Gemayel Culbert, 32, and Justin Terrell Gordon, 23, the Choctaw Sun-Advocate reports. "I've got three bad inmates, two capital murders and one armed robber, who are on foot," the sheriff tells AL.com. Dogs followed a trail to a highway near the prison, where officials think the men may have been picked up.