Escaped Oregon State Hospital Patient Back In Custody -04/15/22

April 15, 2022

Media contact: Aria Seligmann, 503-910-9239, ari.l.seligmann@dhsoha.state.or.us

Escaped Oregon State Hospital patient back in custody

Oregon State Hospital psychiatric patient, Thaddeus Ziemlak, 39, is back in police custody today after absconding from an approved outing on Thursday, April 14 at 4:23 p.m. in Eugene.

The Oregon State Police (OSP) and Eugene Police Department (EPD) were notified and alerted all western states. A news release with Ziemlak’s photo was sent to all news outlets in Oregon.

On Friday, April 15, at approximately 9:44 a.m., a passerby noticed Ziemlak on Hwy 126 near Veneta, Oregon and notified OSP, who identified Ziemlak and had him in custody by 10:20 a.m. Ziemlak was brought to Lane County jail and is being transferred to Oregon State Hospital’s Salem campus.