Jail escapee captured after anonymous tip

A Grant County Jail inmate who escaped July 4 was captured Saturday after Grant County Sheriff’s Office deputies received an anonymous tip, according to a GCSO social media post, which was delayed due to the investigation of two deaths near Moses Lake.

Ephrata police and GCSO deputies found Carlos Camarena, 25, at a home at 35 G St. NE in Ephrata. Camarena refused to come out at first, but eventually did and was taken to the Grant County Jail without incident.

“We figured he was still around, but didn’t know where,” GCSO Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman told the Herald.

Linda Zaragoza, 39, who was also at the home, was taken into custody on an outstanding felony warrant.

Camarena was a jail trustee taking trash to a dumpster when he ran in early July. Corrections deputies, GCSO deputies, Ephrata police, and Washington State Patrol troopers searched the area near the courthouse on C Street in Ephrata, and a Moses Lake Police Department K-9 tracked Camarena’s scent without luck.

Camarena was serving a 240-day sentence for second-degree burglary and third-degree theft.

“His sentence wasn’t very long to begin with. And he was a trustee. He only made it worse,” Foreman told the Herald.

Emily Thornton can be reached via email at ethornton@columbiabasinherald.com.