Vallecito, CA…A minimum-security inmate who walked away from the Vallecito Conservation Camp, located near the community of Vallecito in Calaveras County, was apprehended this evening. Inmate Ernest Anthony Morales, 26, was apprehended at around 9 p.m. without incident by agents of CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety, Special Service Unit, along with the Sierra Conservation Center Investigative Services Unit and Crisis Response Team. He was found hiding in a park in the San Andreas area. Morales is being transported to Sierra Conservation Center. His case will be referred to the District Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution.

Morales was received by CDCR in June 2017 with a four year sentence, for vehicle theft as a second striker out of Fresno County. He was discovered missing from the Vallecito Conservation Camp on Saturday, June 9 at approximately 12:25 a.m. during a routine security check.

The OCS mission is to protect the public and serve CDCR investigative and security interests. OCS is the primary departmental link with allied law enforcement agencies and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Since 1977, 99 percent of all offenders who have left an adult institution, camp or community-based program without permission have been apprehended.

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