Authorities are searching for two state prisoners who have escaped from a private prison in Perry County.

The men, 26-year-old Joshua Southwick and 22-year-old Ashton Mink, escaped on Monday.

Southwick was serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to a 2003 murder-for-hire case in Limestone County and Mink was serving time for an attempted murder conviction in Madison County in 2005. He is not scheduled for release until 2028.

The Alabama Department of Corrections leases bed space from the private facility.