Merle Wakefield, a 69-year-old state-designated sexually violent predator, removed his GPS monitor and disappeared from a Rancho Bernardo warehouse early Friday, Sept. 25.

He remained at large as of Saturday, Sept. 26, according to CBS 8.

Wakefield's GPS device triggered a "tamper mode" alert at about 3:30 a.m. while he was at work, San Diego County Sheriff's Lt. Aloha Peters said in a news release. By the time an employee from Liberty Healthcare, the company contracted to supervise him, arrived at the warehouse, the monitor had been removed.

Wakefield was gone.

He had been under 24-hour supervision by Liberty Healthcare security personnel as a condition of his release, according to the Sheriff's Office. It was the first time a sexually violent predator in San Diego County has absconded from the state's conditional release program, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune, which first reported the story.

Liberty Healthcare notified both the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. Wakefield is wanted for violating the terms of his conditional release, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office described Wakefield as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 230 pounds, with brown eyes. Authorities urged the public not to approach him and to call 911 immediately if they spot him.

Poway connection

The name Merle Wakefield is familiar to Poway residents. In July 2024, the California Department of State Hospitals recommended placing him at a home on Sycamore Canyon Road, described as just a couple hundred yards outside Poway city limits, near Garden Road Elementary School and Garden Road Park.

Poway Mayor Steve Vaus proposed a City Council resolution to oppose the placement and organized a community rally at Garden Road Neighborhood Park. The state withdrew its recommendation on July 12, 2024, less than a week after announcing it, according to Fox 5.

Vaus told the rally crowd he had informed the property owner about Wakefield's criminal history, and the owner refused to house him. San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson, who represents Poway, opposed the placement at the time, stating his district held over 70% of the county's sexually violent predators.

Criminal history and release

Wakefield was convicted in 1981 of committing lewd acts with a minor under 14, then convicted in 1990 of rape by means of force, violence or fear, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office. After his release from prison in 1998, he was formally designated a sexually violent predator and committed to the Department of State Hospitals.

Sexually violent predators, or SVPs, have been convicted of a violent sex crime. They are also diagnosed with a mental condition that makes them likely to reoffend. SVPs make up less than 1% of the state's sexual offender population, according to the Union-Tribune.

After three failed housing attempts, a San Diego Superior Court judge ordered Wakefield released as a transient in October 2024. He was placed at a home in Jacumba Hot Springs in November 2024 and has been on conditional release since then. He had most recently been living in Campo, Lt. Peters said.

Wakefield has a lifetime requirement to register as a sex offender.

Officials respond

San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond wrote on X on Friday, Sept. 25:

@jim_desmond: "Early this morning in Rancho Bernardo, sexually violent predator Merle Wakefield took off his GPS monitor and walked away. His ankle monitor went into 'tamper mode' at 3:30 a.m. By the time the state's contractor got there, he was gone. That's how easy it was."

Desmond also said in a statement, as reported by CBS 8, that "what happened with Merle Wakefield could have happened at any time" and called for SVPs to be locked up in secure state facilities rather than released into communities.

The Department of State Hospitals said Friday, Sept. 25, that privacy laws prevent it from commenting on current or former patients. The department said people in the conditional release program are GPS-monitored in real time.

Anyone with information on Wakefield's whereabouts should call 911 or contact local law enforcement.