Inmate walks away from Mount Bullion Conservation Camp

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials are searching for a minimum-security inmate who walked away from the Sierra Conservation Center Mount Bullion Conservation Camp in Mariposa County on Monday.

The center is north of Fresno.

Authorities said 31-year-old Blake Castro was reported missing during an inmate count. He was last seen at 2 a.m. in his assigned housing unit.

CDCR, Cal Fire, the California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies are assisting with the search for the missing inmate.

Authorities said Castro is white, 5’9″ tall, weighs 240 pounds and has brown eyes and black hair. He has a tattoo of Chinese writing on his right forearm. He was committed to CDCR last year on August 2, from Fresno County to serve a four-year sentence for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse/cohabitant. He was scheduled to be released in November, 2018.

If you see Castro, contact 911 or police immediately. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact the Mt. Bullion Conservation Camp Commander at (209) 742-5494, or the SCC Watch Commander at (209) 984-5291, extension 5439.

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