San Diego County authorities are asking the public for help locating 69-year-old Merle Wakefield after his GPS monitoring device entered “tamper mode” while he was working in Rancho Bernardo early Friday morning.
The alert was triggered at about 3:30 a.m. Authorities said Liberty Healthcare, which supervises Wakefield through California’s Conditional Release Program, responded to the location. When staff arrived, they found that the GPS device had been removed and Wakefield was no longer there.
Wakefield is now wanted for allegedly violating the conditions of his conditional release.
Authorities described Wakefield as 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 230 pounds, with brown eyes. The Sheriff’s Office is warning members of the public not to approach or attempt to contact him if they see him. Anyone who believes they have located him should contact local law enforcement or call 911.
Wakefield has a long history under California’s sexually violent predator system. San Diego County records say he was convicted of a felony lewd-or-lascivious-acts offense involving a child in 1981 and a felony rape offense in 1990. A San Diego Superior Court later determined in 1998 that he met the legal definition of a sexually violent predator.
His conditional-release history also extends back several years. According to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, Wakefield was first granted conditional release in 2020 but was later returned to the state hospital for additional treatment. A court again declined to revoke his conditional release in 2022.
On Nov. 26, 2024, Wakefield was released from Coalinga State Hospital under a court order. At that time, he was placed on transient status with 24-hour, seven-day-a-week human supervision and GPS monitoring while Liberty Healthcare continued looking for a permanent placement. County records continue to list him as a conditionally released sexually violent predator.
The latest incident involving the removed GPS device has prompted the current search in the Rancho Bernardo area.
Authorities are urging anyone who sees Wakefield not to approach him or try to make contact. Instead, residents should call 911 or notify local law enforcement immediately.
