Authorities expanded their search to the Tampa Bay area for an inmate who escaped a South Florida prison, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Saturday.

Ronald McCoy, 39, might have family in the Tampa area, officials said. He escaped from the Dade Correctional Institution on Friday. He was not accounted for after an inmate count, the Miami television station WFOR reported Friday.

He was serving a life sentence after being convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon in Alachua County. He was also convicted of crimes in Putnam County, officials said.

Authorities said McCoy has a small scar on his neck and a tattoo on his left arm that says "Bicep Pysco."

The FDLE said anyone with information about McCoy should call 911.