San Diego County authorities are searching for Merle Wakefield, 69, after sheriff's investigators said he cut off his GPS monitor around 3:30 a.m. Friday while working in Rancho Bernardo, according to NBC 7 San Diego.

Wakefield was under Liberty Health Care's 24-hour supervision, NBC 7 reported. The station reported that he walked off from a job at an Amazon processing center in Rancho Bernardo, and a law enforcement source said he threw his cellphone into bushes before driving away in a 2018 white Toyota Camry.

At last check, Wakefield was being temporarily housed at 1138 Custer Road in Campo, NBC 7 reported. For Santee-area readers, the East County connection is the Campo housing reference; Wakefield's reported disappearance occurred in Rancho Bernardo, not Santee.

NBC 7 reported that Wakefield was convicted of lewd acts on a child in 1980 and rape by force, violence or fear in 1991. Anyone who sees Wakefield or has information that could help locate him should notify any law enforcement agency, NBC 7 reported.

Source: NBC 7 San Diego.