A child sex offender who had been on the run in San Diego since late September was found dead in a riverbed, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. The discovery of Merle Wakefield’s body, age 69, came after authorities responded to a report of a human body on Monday morning. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Details around the case remain limited as law enforcement has not released further information due to the ongoing investigation.
Wakefield was working at an Amazon warehouse in Rancho Bernardo when, on the morning of September 25, his GPS tracking device went into “Tamper Mode.” Officials from Liberty Healthcare, the state contractor overseeing him, found that the device had been removed and Wakefield was missing. They alerted the sheriff’s office shortly thereafter.
He has a criminal history dating back to 1980 and 1991, with convictions for lewd acts with a child under 14 and forceful rape. Since the fall of 2024, Wakefield had been living under a conditional release program while being supervised by Liberty Healthcare.
The California Department of State Hospitals collaborates with Liberty Healthcare to manage individuals convicted of certain crimes, particularly those with significant mental health issues. Courts can allow these offenders to reside in the community under supervision for treatment.
Wakefield’s disappearance raised concerns among local officials who were calling for stricter regulations regarding his living arrangements. San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond remarked on how easily he vanished, noting that he had been released into the community in November 2024 with assurances of monitoring, yet was now missing.
An October 2024 hearing led to a judge granting him a transient release instead of a stable residence, as reported. This was actually the third attempt to settle him within San Diego County.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office had opposed this release strategy, highlighting worries about inadequate monitoring.
Critics have long questioned California’s release programs, with a recent audit revealing that about 36% of participants had breached their terms of release. However, the California Department of State Hospitals defended the program to local media, stating that the decision to conditionally release a sexually violent predator ultimately lies with the court, which includes supervision measures such as GPS tracking, surprise home visits, and surveillance.
