Idaho inmate mistakenly released from jail captured on Vashon Island

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VASHON ISLAND, Wash. - After eight days on the run, an inmate who was accidentally released from the Kootenai County Jail in Idaho last week was caught today on Vashon Island.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the United States Marshals Service, King County Sheriff’s
Office, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, Seattle Police Department, the Washington State Department of Corrections and the Idaho Department of Corrections, apprehended Daniel J. Billingsley without incident around 2:30 p.m. on May 28.

After learning Billingsley left the state, the U.S. Marshals (USMS) Fugitive Task Force out of Coeur d'Alene, including the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office and the Idaho Department of Corrections, traveled to Vashon Island early this morning.

After a short ferry ride from Seattle to get on the island, the task force located Billingsley with the assistance of the USMS task force out of the Western District of Washington and arrested him.

An internal investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding his mistaken release from jail.

Billingsley was sentenced to the Idaho Department of Corrections and had been transported to Kootenai County to face local Fish and Game charges.

He was being held on a possession of controlled substance charge when he was accidentally set free, sparking the nationwide manhunt.

According to the Coeur d'Alene/Post Falls Press, "Billingsley has a criminal history in Kootenai County dating back over 17 years, which includes arrests for narcotics, burglary, robbery, fraud, battery and domestic violence."

Billingsley was booked into the King County Jail in Seattle pending his extradition back to North Idaho.