(CNN) An inmate who escaped from a Tennessee prison while on mowing work detail was at the home of a corrections official three hours before her body was discovered, investigators said.

A manhunt is underway for Curtis Ray Watson, who escaped Wednesday from West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning, and is considered extremely dangerous.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has said he's a suspect in the death of Debra Johnson, a longtime corrections official who was found dead in her home on the prison grounds.

Johnson's co-workers discovered her body about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday after she didn't report to work. Hours earlier, at 8:30 a.m., corrections officers saw Watson on a facility golf cart at her home, the TBI said Friday.

Authorities believe Johnson, 64, was killed and Watson is a suspect in her death.

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