The Merced County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that Jeffery Scott Landers, 34, the convicted murderer who escaped from the custody of the Department of Corrections Saturday evening has been captured.
Deputies of the Merced County Sheriff’s Office Supervised Release team tracked Landers in an orchard near Bell Drive and Arena Way in Livingston.
Landers was apprehended without incident at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Landers escaped the custody of the Department of Corrections at approximately 6 p.m. on Saturday, while being transferred from Wasco State Prison to the Stockton area. Landers is serving time for being previously convicted of stabbing a man to death in Riverside.
The Turlock Police Department received two reports of Landers being in Turlock just after midnight Sunday; one at the Quik Stop on the corner of Monte Vista Avenue and Golden State Boulevard and the other at the AMPM at Taylor Road and Golden State Boulevard, said Turlock police spokesperson Sgt. Scott Ellis.
Officers actively searched the area, but were unable to locate a suspect matching Landers’ description. Ellis added that the reports came 45 minutes and 3 hours after the original sightings.
It is unknown at this time how Landers escaped the custody of the Department of Corrections.
The incident is open and under active investigation.
wow that was my town