GEORGETOWN, Calif. — A nearly six-month search for an incarcerated person who walked away from an El Dorado County conservation camp has ended with his arrest in Orange County.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials said Juan David Veramancini, 49, was apprehended Wednesday, Aug. 19, by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
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Veramancini had been the subject of a statewide search since Feb. 23, when Growlersburg Conservation Camp staff discovered he was missing during an approximately 8 p.m. head count.
CDCR said an emergency count confirmed Veramancini was no longer at the camp, and agents with the department’s Office of Correctional Safety were immediately directed to locate him. Local law enforcement agencies were also notified.
The arrest brings an end to one of the longer-running inmate walkaway cases involving Growlersburg, a minimum-security conservation camp located near Georgetown in western El Dorado County.
Arrest in Orange County
According to CDCR, Orange County sheriff’s deputies arrested Veramancini on suspicion of first-degree burglary and possession of stolen property.
Those charges are separate from the circumstances surrounding his February departure from Growlersburg.
After Veramancini is arraigned on the Orange County charges, CDCR said he will be returned to state custody and housed at a state institution rather than a conservation camp. His case will also be referred to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of escape charges.
The arrest occurred nearly six months after Veramancini was reported missing from the Georgetown-area camp.
February disappearance triggered immediate search
When CDCR initially announced the walkaway, officials said Veramancini was last seen wearing an orange beanie and orange jacket. He could have been wearing orange pants or gray sweatpants, along with white tennis shoes or black boots.
At the time, CDCR described him as 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing 152 pounds. He was listed as having brown eyes and black hair, although officials noted he was bald when he disappeared.
Veramancini had been received by CDCR from Orange County on July 1, 2024, and had been sentenced for first-degree burglary.
The February incident generated particular interest in El Dorado County because Growlersburg is not a conventional prison. The camp is part of California’s conservation-camp system, which provides eligible incarcerated people with training and assignments supporting wildfire response and other emergency and public-service work.
A second walkaway at Growlersburg
The Veramancini case also unfolded against the backdrop of another walkaway from Growlersburg this year.
On April 1, incarcerated person Jose F. Zamora was reported missing during a morning head count. CDCR said Zamora was located near the facility and apprehended within minutes without incident.
The contrast was stark: Zamora was returned to custody almost immediately, while Veramancini remained at large for nearly six months.
CDCR has previously said that 99% of incarcerated people who have escaped or walked away from adult institutions, camps, in-state contract beds or community rehabilitative placements since 1977 have eventually been apprehended.
Veramancini’s arrest now adds another case to that long-term record.
What happens next
The Orange County criminal case will proceed through that county’s court system. Once that process is completed, CDCR said Veramancini will be returned to state custody.
Separately, the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office will consider whether additional escape-related charges should be pursued.
For residents near Georgetown and elsewhere in El Dorado County, the arrest closes a case that began with an unexpected disappearance from a facility closely tied to the region’s wildfire-response infrastructure.
CDCR’s original Feb. 23, 2026 announcement documented the initial walkaway and provided the suspect’s identifying information. CDCR news release on the Growlersburg walkaway
