Alex N. Gecan and Erik Larsen

Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

BARNEGAT TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A convicted killer was discovered missing from prison Tuesday, and police have mounted a massive manhunt here for the inmate.

Arthur Buckel, 38, of Clifton, N.J., was serving a three-year prison term for aggravated assault, drug possession and burglary and was less than a month away from being considered for parole when he escaped from the Bayside State Prison unit at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Winslow Township, Barnegat Township police said.

At about 10:15 a.m. ET, a white 2015 Chevy Silverado stolen in Hammonton, N.J., near the prison was located at a drugstore here, about 45 miles northeast of the penitentiary. Buckel, who was incarcerated in the prison and not the psychiatric hospital, is believed to have been the driver, police said.

In 1996, Buckel was sentenced to 25 years in prison for an aggravated manslaughter in Hudson County, N.J., according to court records. Buckel received the sentence for slapping 10-month-old Caitlin Colon to death because she was crying, The (Secaucus, N.J.) Jersey Journal reported.

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The death occurred after the baby's mother, a Barnegat Township resident, brought the child with her to visit Buckel for Labor Day weekend in 1995. He was required to serve 12½ years in prison before he could be considered for parole and was released June 30, 2010, the report said.

He was incarcerated again Nov. 21, 2015, and would have been eligible for parole May 21, according to state information. Without parole, he would have spent until Nov. 21, 2017, in prison.

Buckel could face an additional three to five years in prison once he's recaptured, said spokesman Matt Schuman of the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

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"Is he dangerous? On the one hand, he is a minimum-custody inmate," Schuman said. "But he is an escaped inmate at this point."

Buckel is a white man, 5 feet 9 inches tall and about 180 pounds. He has light blue eyes, a mustache, a beard and a small tattoo under his left eye, according to the state Corrections Department.

Police have advised sections of the township to keep their cars and doors locked and to report any suspicious activity. Teams from at least seven agencies, some with assault weapons, are searching the streets and woods for signs of Buckel.

Contributing: Amanda Oglesby and Kathleen Hopkins, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press; The (Vineland, N.J.) Daily Journal. Follow Alex Gecan and Eric Larsen on Twitter: @GeeksterTweets and @Erik_Larsen