Family fearful as mentally ill man goes missing from hospital
Published:Friday | March 11, 2022 | 12:08 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
A 44-year-old mentally ill man has been missing since his admission to the Linstead Public Hospital’s psychiatric unit last Thursday.
Leroy Richards’ relatives say they are heartbroken and fearful for his safety and have criticised the authorities for lacklustre efforts to locate him.
His sister, Cynthia Richards-Marshall, told The Gleaner on Thursday that hospital employees have been tight-lipped, unable to provide a plausible explanation for how he left the facility.
Several attempts to call acting chief executive officer at the hospital, Christopher Munroe, were unsuccessful on Thursday as calls to his mobile phone went unanswered.
Workers reportedly told relatives of Richards’ that he was being treated by a doctor on March 3, fifteen minutes after arrival, and later went missing.
“If it was 15 minutes ago, then I believe that if they put out a search, they would have catch him because he don’t know where him is. Him don’t know Linstead none at all,” Richards-Marshall exclaimed, accusing the hospital and police of negligence.
“I believe that if they had stepped in earlier, they would have found him ... . Maybe they think is just another madman walk out of the hospital and him don’t have anybody, [but] we looking better for him and that’s why we bring him there, and so up until date, I don’t hear anything,” the sister added.
Senior Superintendent Howard Chambers, the commanding officer for the St Catherine North Police Division, said he was unaware of the matter. He pledged, however, to make inquiries into the matter and report back on Thursday. Calls and messages sent to Chambers were not answered up to press time.
The mentally ill male is of a Glengoffe address and is unfamiliar with the Linstead area, his family said. Richards was initially transported from his home by the Glengoffe police after reportedly becoming a threat to community members.
Richards-Marshall attributes his deteriorating mental state to the death of four relatives in as many years, with the most recent being his uncle’s. That relative is expected to be buried this month.
The man’s sister explained that after another sister passed away in 2017, Richards was taken to the doctor, who reported that he was having a nervous breakdowns.
That year, his father died from illness.
“Every time one pass, is like it get to him worse,” she said.
The family is now grappling with planning the uncle’s burial while worrying about Richards’ fate.
The Linstead Public Hospital serves five parishes: St Catherine, St Andrew, St Ann, St Mary, and Clarendon. Referrals are received from 10 health centres in Linstead and other facilities for neighbouring parishes.