The U.S. Marshals Service says a Washington registered sex offender who disappeared after cutting off his state issued GPS tracking ankle bracelet has turned himself in to police in Camden, Arkansas.

David Torrence, a Level 3 offender, had been released from prison on April 20 after serving a one-year sentence for failing to register as a sex offender. State Department of Corrections officials were unable to find adequate housing for the 43-year-old offender so he was fitted with the tracking device, given a sleeping bag and permitted to live beneath a bridge in Snohomish. His ankle bracelet was found on April 24th at an apartment complex near Lynnwood.

Since the incident, the head of the DOC ordered that victims of sex crimes must be notified when those convicted of attacks remove their GPS tracking device.

Torrence was one of nearly 90 Level 3 sex offenders who had been assigned to GPS monitoring since the program began late last year. Of those offenders, four have removed their ankle bracelets and with Torrence’s apprehension only one, James Murphy, remains on the loose.

The DOC started using GPS tracking late last year in reaction to Gov. Christine Gregoire’s promise to keep people safe from sexual predators.

(Seattle Times)