Merle Wakefield, a sexually violent predator who slipped away from state-mandated supervision last month, was found dead Monday morning in a San Diego riverbed.
San Diego police received notification just after 9:30 a.m. that a person was dead in a riverbed near the 4800 block of Fairmount Avenue. That location sits roughly 20 miles south of where Wakefield was last seen alive weeks prior. The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office performed an autopsy and confirmed the man’s identity, notifying next of kin.
The Escape in Rancho Bernardo
Wakefield’s disappearance triggered a weeks-long search after his electronic monitoring equipment failed in late September. Liberty Healthcare, the organization tasked with supervising him under California’s Conditional Release Program, received an automated tampering alert at approximately 3:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 25.
Employees arriving at Wakefield’s workplace in the 16000 block of Via Esprillo found both his phone and his GPS tracking device abandoned on site. Wakefield had already vanished. Liberty Healthcare immediately notified local law enforcement, handing the case over to the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, and the multi-agency San Diego Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force.
#UPDATE The San Diego County Sheriff's Office has called off the search for Sexually Violent Predator Merle Wakefield after he was found deceased in the City of San Diego.On Monday, October 19, just after 9:30 a.m., the San Diego Police Department responded to a call of a human… pic.twitter.com/ZgB9kB69FE
An Extensive Criminal Record
Wakefield entered state supervision carrying a lengthy and severe criminal history. Public records show a rap sheet spanning more than 20 arrests and 10 convictions, which included offenses such as rape and lewd acts with a minor under the age of 14.
Because of his classification as a sexually violent predator, his release into the community required strict adherence to electronic tracking and conditional oversight.
Unanswered Questions Surrounding the Death
Authorities have not yet released the official cause of death, leaving investigators working to piece together Wakefield’s final weeks on the run. While the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office has confirmed his identity through autopsy results, officials have not disclosed who originally discovered the body in the Fairmount Avenue riverbed.
The San Diego Sheriff’s Department stated that no further information will be made public at this stage while the investigation into the circumstances of his death remains active.
