Former Yosemite Park employee was reportedly missing. He turned out to be a fugitive who ran away
For two days, the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office searched a person near Yosemite National Park, and the man was reported as “dangerous missing person.”
Searches include helicopters, off-highway vehicle departments and law enforcement search and rescue, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.
The missing person, Nathan Baptista, last told his family on June 27 that he would ride a dirt bike “near the mines and towers” but did not provide any other details, according to a social media post from the sheriff’s office.
In a Sheriff’s Office Investigation Department found Nathan Baptista had an active federal arrest warrant, the search team covered 500 miles of rough terrain and was linked to aggravated sexual abuse charges.
Baptista, 38, weighs about 165 pounds and is 5’9″, allegedly violating his probation in connection with the charges, officials said.
“So far, we are now confident that the case has changed from ‘in danger of missing person’ to fugitives who are no longer in the federal law enforcement department in Mariposa County,” the sheriff’s office press release said. “Surveillance footage has confirmed his truck and dirt bikes are seen in the Fresno area.”
Baptista was charged with serious sexual abuse last year after being charged with rape and strangulation of a female park employee, according to federal prosecutors.
Baptista and the woman work for a company that runs park hotel services. The alleged rape occurred the night the woman encountered Batista, prosecutors said.
Baptista is awaiting trial and it is not clear whether he is on bail.
