WESTMORELAND, N.H. (AP) – A Cheshire County Jail inmate is back in custody after walking away from his kitchen job at the nearby county nursing home.

James Merkle, 50, was reported missing around 7 p.m., Wednesday, from the Maplewood Nursing Home, authorities said.

State troopers with a tracking dog followed Merkle’s trail and found him in woods about a mile from the jail.

Jail Superintendent Richard Van Wickler said Merkle was a minimum security inmate, whose sentence was about to expire. He said the search began when Merkle did not return to the nursing home after taking out the trash last night.