NEW ORLEANS — It was at the end of a boardwalk in Bayou Sauvage where authorities believe an ankle monitor was thrown into the marsh Wednesday morning.
It happened just after nine o’clock in the 17000 block of Chef Highway.
“When it went into the water it lost communication and it lost communication at the end of that boardwalk. The logic says it’s in the water,” said Director of Enforcement with the ankle monitoring company Assured Supervision Accountability Program Matthew Dennis.
That monitor was on Darwin Gonzales-Munoz's ankle, 27. Once the monitor was confirmed to be cut off, the search for Gonzales-Munoz started.
“He is dangerous. The public should avoid him,” said Dennis.
Dennis says Gonzales-Munoz’s ankle monitor was activated on May 3rd.
“He’s a new person. By the way, that’s typically when a person cuts, within that first week,” said Dennis.
Dennis says the device has double-banded surgical steel in it.
“It’s very difficult to cut and it usually takes a good few minutes,” said Dennis.
According to New Orleans police, Gonzales-Munoz was arrested on March 18th on multiple domestic violence charges, including domestic battery by strangulation.
Court documents show he was released on a $78,000 bail on May 3rd, which is when the ankle monitor was activated.
“This is not a legally documented citizen,” said Dennis.
Given his immigration status, Dennis says there’s reason to believe Gonzalez-Munoz may be trying to leave the area. The company is using tracking data to help find him.
“We use that tracking data to generate a series of different reports. One of them is called a Stops Report. That Stops Report lists everywhere you stop, in order of the amount of time you spend there,” said Dennis.
With only about five days of tracking data to work with, authorities hope that’ll be enough.
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