Two area men are wanted for failing to return to work release Wednesday.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office searched for Joseph Dale McAllister, 38, of Cleveland, and Randall Darryl Ladd, 35, of Gainesville on Sunday after receiving a call about two suspicious subjects in the Ponderosa Farm Road area of South Hall.

One of the subjects was reportedly going door to door because his vehicle had run out of gas, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

When deputies arrived, one of the subjects ran, but the other was not located. A vehicle registration check showed a vehicle at the scene belonged to a man wanted for failing to return to work release.

Sheriff’s office K-9 teams, along with the Georgia State Patrol Aviation Unit, searched the area and were able to track the subjects “a considerable distance” before eventually losing them, according to the news release.

The search lasted about four hours and was called off at about 4 p.m., said Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks, spokesman for the sheriff’s office. It covered the Ponderosa Farm Road area stretching north toward Poplar Springs Road, he said.

McAllister and Ladd both were serving time for probation violation, Wilbanks said.

McAllister has a history of theft, forgery and other smaller charges, according to court records. Ladd has a history including a 2001 armed robbery and aggravated assault as well as theft charges in the late 1990s, according to court records.

Both have been charged before with escape. Ladd left the work release center without permission in 1997, resulting in an escape charge. McAllister escaped from house arrest in 2008.

Both men reported for work release Wednesday and left for their landscaping jobs, but neither returned at the appointed time.

Wilbanks said the Warrant Unit is tasked with tracking the men down once an escape warrant is issued.

“Our warrant deputies have a lot of contacts in the community — of course they take tips as well — but they’ll go out and start reaching out to their contacts and working any information that they can to try to dig up some tips on where these individuals might be,” Wilbanks said.

Wilbanks said the men are not labeled armed and dangerous, but he encouraged residents not to approach them but to call 911.

Anyone with any information about where the men may be can call 911 or contact the sheriff’s office Warrant Unit at 770-531-6907. Anonymous tips may also be submitted online.