Update: Inmate in custody after escaping from El Dorado County correctional firefighting camp

An inmate who escaped Saturday at an El Dorado correctional camp used to house fire crews has been located and placed into custody, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

In a news release, state correctional officials said that minimum-security inmate Edgar Benitez, 25, was missing from his assigned housing at Growlersburg Conservation Camp at an 11 p.m. head count. On Sunday night, CDCR officials said Benitez was apprehended around 4:30 p.m. in front of a home in Modesto, about 90 miles south.

“Benitez will be transported and rehoused at Sierra Conservation Center and his case will be referred to for consideration of charges,” CDCR officials said in a news release.

The camp, near Georgetown and jointly run by CDCR and Cal Fire, is home to inmate firefighting hand crews that are deployed to battle wildfires across California.

Benitez was last seen at 10 p.m. Saturday during a head count. Correctional officers searched the camp grounds after it was discovered he was missing. Cal Fire and other local law enforcement agencies are assisting in the search.

He was received from Los Angeles County on Dec. 26, 2017, sentenced to nine years in prison on a charge of driving while intoxicated and causing injury or death, according to CDCR.

This story was originally published July 25, 2021 at 10:04 AM.