IONIA, MI. (WOWO): A man convicted of four 1993 murders has escaped from a Michigan jail. 40-year-old Michael David Elliot, a white man, standing 5’8”, weighing 165 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes and wearing a blue and orange state prison uniform escaped from the Ionia Michigan Correctional Facility Sunday night.

According to police, Eliot forced his way into a Red 2004 Jeep Liberty with Michigan License Plate “5FTG55” that was outside a home in Ionia being driven by a woman around 8:00 P.M. Elliot was armed with a hammer and a box cutter knife and threatened to cut the woman.

The two went into the Middlebury, IN area where they stopped at a Gallop’s gas station on SR 13 to get gas. The woman, who had a cell phone hidden, called 911 while Elliot was pumping gas, and LaGrange County Dispatchers received the call. Dispatchers instructed the woman to go in the gas station to get away from the suspect and to lock herself in the restroom.

Police say that at one point, Elliot knocked on the bathroom door and told the woman it was time to go. Dispatchers were able to find the gas station and contacted Elkhart County to have officers go to the scene.

The victim told Dispatch that Elliot had put on a pair of her black cargo pants and also had a jacket on and had short hair and facial hair. Elliot told the victim that he was in prison for 4 counts of murder.

The woman said Elliot had the keys to her Jeep and said he wanted to get far away from Ionia, MI. The stop in Middlebury was the first stop since they left Ionia.

When police got to the scene and made contact with the victim, her Jeep was gone.

Elliot was last seen on SR 13 just south of the Michigan State line.

If you see Elliot, you’re advised not to approach him but rather contact police immediately. Elliot should be considered armed and dangerous.