Escaped Jailed Inmate’s Body Found in Landfill

U.S. Marshals confirmed to ABC-7 Friday afternoon that a body found in a Sunland Park, N.M. landfill was that of a federal inmate who escaped the El Paso jail earlier in the day.

Carlos Roberto Medina-Bailon, 30, of Delicias, Mexico, is believed to have escaped the El Paso County Detention Facility between 4:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Friday by using the garbage disposal system and crushed by the garbage truck compactor.

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He was working as a trusty in the kitchen downstairs in jail, helping to prepare breakfast, when he escaped.

After escaping through the garbage disposal system, Medina-Bailon then hid in a dumpster when the trash was picked up by a garbage truck. The sheriff’s office checked with the company providing garbage service to the jail facility which revealed they had already dumped their load at the landfill in Sunland Park, N.M.

Medina-Bailon had been housed at the Downtown jail for a month while awaiting trial on a federal drug charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute. Wiles confirmed Medina-Bailon does have ties to a Mexican drug cartel because of the drug charge.

El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles admitted Friday morning there was a flaw in the way trash was disposed of at the jail and said they have fixed that flaw to prevent future escapes. He did not go into specifics of what was changed.

The downtown El Paso jail, operated by the El Paso County Sheriff’s office, houses federal and local inmates awaiting trial. The jail is within walking distance of the Mexican border.

Sheriff’s deputy Jesse Tovar said the last escape at the downtown jail was in 1997.

Links: El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Press Release