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Residents Concerned After No Notification of Escape at Grand Mound Mental Health Facility

The Chronicle - 6/24/2017

June 24--A man who on Sunday escaped a Grand Mound facility used to hold criminal suspects with mental health issues is still on the run, according to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office.

Daniel Jonathan Moore, 34, who was charged in February with two felonies for allegedly breaking into a Tacoma church, escaped Sunday night from Maple Lane, a Grand Mound mental health facility run by the Department of Health and Social Services.

However, some area residents didn't hear about the escape until news outlets began posting stories online Tuesday.

"I think my sister found out through social media," said Centralia resident Wade Stedham, whose 83-year-old mother lives about 300 yards from Maple Lane. "I wish there was some type of alert system in place ... It concerned me. It concerned my mom to find out like that."

Stedham grew up on the property where his family runs a driving range. He remembers that past escapes from Maple Lane were treated considerably different. Back then, he said, guards would knock on doors to make residents aware of the escape. He even helped guards catch an escapee who scaled a tree on one occasion. He remembers his family felt safe living so close to the facility because of the notifications.

"That was back in the day when you left your keys in your car and never worried about anything," he said. "Now it's not like that."

Maple Lane was previously a youth correction center, but in 2016 was repurposed to be a mental health facility for competency restoration for suspects in pending criminal cases.

Even though Moore was in Maple Lane in state custody to regain competency to stand trial in a felony case, because Maple Lane is now considered a health care facility, DSHS cannot release information when a person escapes, said Adolfo Capestany, senior director of communications for DSHS.

"We can't release any information. What we do is we notify law enforcement." he said. "Our hands are tied."

If administrators release information about an escape, they could be violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which prohibits medical providers from disclosing confidential information.

Capestany said Western State Hospital is also unable to release information when alleged offenders escape. The agency must rely on law enforcement to get the word out, he said.

Lt. Tim Rudloff, of the Thurston County Sheriff's Office, noted that administrators at Maple Lane notified law enforcement promptly after Moore pulled a rubber seal off a window frame, removed the window and escaped into the yard, where he climbed over a fence.

Deputies soon investigated one lead, which didn't get them any closer to Moore.

"There was another inmate in there, another person in holding that was a female that he was friendly with and they learned from talking to her that she had a mother who lives right down the street from there," Rudloff said

They checked the house and didn't find any sign of Moore, he said.

By not notifying residents of the escape, law enforcement and DSHS missed a valuable opportunity to have more eyes looking for Moore, Stedham said.

"Why is it a day later before anybody's looking for anybody?" he said. "We're a close neighborhood still living out there."

Moore does not have ties to the area. Department of Licensing records show his most recent address is in Tacoma, Rudloff said.

Rudloff also spoke in favor of a notification system to area residents.

"I would think they need to get that straight," he said. "It would be good for them to make a public notification when things happen."

Moore is 6 feet 3, 180 pounds and has short red hair. To report his whereabouts, contact the Thurston County Sheriff's Office at 360-786-5500.

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