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Escaped Monroe inmate found near North Bend

NORTH BEND, Wash. — Police said a call made by an inmate who was on the lam after he escaped from the Monroe Correctional Complex led to his capture.

Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies spent days searching for 37-year-old Brandon Musto after staff at the complex noticed he was missing during a routine offender count Wednesday.

The King County Sheriff's Office said the incident started about 4:30 p.m. Sunday when a man called police saying he saw a man he believed was Musto near the Rattlesnake Ridge trailhead around 2:25 p.m.  The man told police Musto asked to borrow his phone to call his mom. The man said Musto used his phone and then ran into the woods when he saw a car drive into the area.

“The tip really was a clue this was him, when the phone number tracked to a relative of the suspect,” said King County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Cindi West.

Musto was later found Sunday at about 7:40 p.m. on a trail near North Bend by a King County Sheriff's Office SWAT team and a K-9.  Police said search teams caught up with Musto as he ran and tried to hide but Musto could not elude the K-9.

Immediately after his capture, he was loaded into an ambulance to be checked out at a local hospital for a dog bite to his leg and for hypothermia.

Snohomish County deputies took custody of Musto from King County Sheriff's deputies after his treatment. He was booked into the Snohomish County Jail.

Musto spent four days in the woods.  Police said he  had supplies provided by an accomplice who gave him a ride after his escape.  That man was arrested last week.

Musto began his prison sentence on Sept. 23, 2011, after he was convicted of vehicular assault in Thurston County.

When he escaped he only had three months remaining on his sentence.   Musto is facing escape charges that could add another seven years to his sentence.