U.S. Marshals are offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a registered sex predator who vanished but may be headed to Pennsylvania.

Investigators say Ernest Eugene Reigh was released from state prison March 1 and failed to register his address with the St. Lucie County Jail.

Reigh was last seen in Fort Pierce, Florida, but officials believe he may be in North Carolina, or on his way to Pennsylvania, where he has relatives.

Reigh's criminal record includes the sexual assault of a girl under 12 years old in St. Lucie County in 1995. She was a Southport Middle School student at the time.

Reigh worked as an assistant in the mid-1990s at the St. Lucie County Jail but was suspended in March 1995 after the middle school student told investigators he had forced her to perform sexual acts for about two years.

In 1996 Reigh was convicted of lewd and lascivious acts and sentenced to state prison.  A month later he admitted he had lied during the trial when he said he was falsely accused.

Around that time he also admitted to selling a machine gun for $500 prior to his arrest.

He was found guilty of perjury, adding an additional year to his sentence.

After his release from prison, he was dropped off at the Greyhound bus stop in Fort Pierce. His address was supposed to be in the 100 block of South U.S. 1, Fort Pierce. Reigh failed to report to the Federal Probation Office and to register his address with the St. Lucie County Jail. Detectives have been unable to locate him and are now asking for the public's help.

Reigh is considered a wanted absconded sexual predator with a history of carrying firearms.

He is bald and has blue eyes. He is about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds.

The U.S. Marshals’ reward is for information leading directly to Reigh’s arrest.

Additional reward money from other sources may also be available.

Anyone with information concerning Reigh’s location is being asked to contact Deputy U.S. Marshal Christopher Crotty at (305) 710-7395 or Task Force Officer John Brady at (954)707-2457.