KANSAS CITY (AP) — A 61-year-old man with schizophrenia — who had been missing for more three weeks since the Missouri nursing home where he lived abruptly closed — was found Tuesday about a mile away, authorities said.
Northview Village Nursing Home, the largest nursing home in St. Louis, shut down suddenly on Dec. 15.
As workers scrambled to prepare residents for transfer to other facilities, and employees from other nursing homes arrived to take them, one resident, Frederick Caruthers, walked away from the building, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Tuesday that Caruthers was found at a local restaurant. A member of the public saw him and phoned the police.
Sgt. Charles Wall, of the St. Louis police department, said the officers received a call Tuesday at around 10 a.m. that Caruthers had been spotted on the 4900 block of Natural Bridge Avenue — about a mile north of the shuttered nursing home.
When officers located him, Caruthers had no obvious signs of injury, Wall said. He was taken to an area hospital for evaluation.
Last week, the Missouri State Highway Patrol issued an endangered silver advisory seeking the public’s help in finding Caruthers, who was among about 175 residents of Northview Village before it closed.
“Mr. Caruthers walked away from the Northview Nursing Home and has not been heard from since,” the advisory stated. “He is without needed medication.”
Residents were shuttled to about a dozen other care facilities in the hours after the nursing home closed. Many patients left with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, creating confusion and spurring outrage among residents and their families.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is investigating the circumstances surrounding the nursing home closure, spokeswoman Lisa Cox has said. She declined further comment, citing the ongoing regulatory investigation.
The union representing workers has said the company started to close the home and bus away residents after staff raised concerns about not being paid.