NewzThe San Diego County Sheriff's Office has called off the search for Merle Wakefield, a sexually violent predator, after he was found dead in San Diego.On Monday, October 19, just after 9:30 a.m., the San Diego Police Department responded to a call of a human body discovered in a riverbed near the 4800 block of Fairmount Avenue.The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office responded and later positively identified the body as Wakefield. The Medical Examiner's Office will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death.On September 25, authorities say Wakefield removed his GPS device while at work in Rancho Bernardo and left the area.Personnel with Liberty Healthcare, which was in charge of supervising Wakefield as part of the state's Conditional Release Program, notified the authorities when Wakefield could not be located.All law enforcement agencies in the region were alerted, as well as the public and media.Since Wakefield's disappearance, the San Diego Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force worked diligently investigating the case and followed all tips and leads.No other details have been released. Authorities located the body of Merle Wakefield, a sex offender who disappeared after tampering with his GPS device last month, in a riverbed near San Diego.
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