A convicted burglar who walked away from a San Diego reentry center last weekend was taken back into custody after being found in Long Beach Thursday, according to authorities.
Diana Sanchez, 31, was rearrested without incident by a Long Beach Police Department task force after being located in the city around 7 p.m. Thursday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
Law enforcement began searching for Sanchez and another inmate, 32-year-old Janelle Rice, after they walked away from the Custody to Community Transitional Reentry Program in San Diego on Sept. 16.
Sanchez arrived at the center from Los Angeles County in March to serve the remainder of a five-year sentence for burglary and identity theft-related crimes. Rice was transferred to the center from San Bernardino County in February to serve out the remainder of a four-year sentence for a robbery and burglary conviction, according to authorities.
Staff were notified at around 10 p.m. that two inmates were seen leaving the facility, according to the CDCR. Authorities then received alerts that Sanchez’s and Rice’s ankle monitors were being tampered with.
After an emergency head count confirmed Sanchez and Rice were gone, agents from the CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety were sent to apprehend Sanchez and Rice and notification was made to local law enforcement, according to authorities.
Rice was captured two days later in the city of Stanton, according to the CDCR, while Sanchez evaded arrest for a few more days before eventually being located in Long Beach.
Sanchez and Rice will be jailed at the California Institution of Women and their cases will be referred to the San Diego County District Attorney for consideration of escape charges, according to the CDCR.
Their arrests come a week after a convicted robber housed at a Long Beach reentry facility walked away and was taken back into custody the following day.