TDCJ admits they don't know the whereabouts of 5 inmates released for medical reasons, but won't identify them
HOUSTON - The Texas Department of Criminal Justice admits they have no idea if the five inmates are dead or alive or where they are. But they are protecting their identities.
TDCJ will release terminally ill inmates under what's called Medically Recommended Intense Supervision or MRIS.
"So ill, so close to death, they required some sort of health care, 24-hour assisted living," said Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers.
The supervision must not be too intense because TDCJ admits it doesn't know the whereabouts of five inmates released from prison for medical reasons.
"The question is we know the five," said Kahan. "The bigger question is how many more are there."
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After discovering the five, FOX 26 filed an open records request asking for their names, counties of convictions, and mug shots.
TDCJ confirmed the five are wanted, but will not release their names citing HIPAA laws.
"Guess what, game over," Kahan said. "Your medical parole is over and done with. You are a wanted fugitive, just like thousands of others who are on parole and have gone missing."
Here's all TDCJ would tell us about the medically released inmates who are now wanted: One is a 53-year-old Hispanic male convicted in Bexar County who absconded September 9, 2022, a 60-year-old black male convicted in Bowie County he absconded July 19, 2023, a 46-year-old white male convicted in Johnson County absconded July 19, 2023, and a 43-year-old Black male convicted in Harris County and absconded July 5, 2022.
"How are you going to know they're wanted? Who we don't know who they are, and you don't provide a mugshot," said Kahan. "That makes no sense."