A 61-year-old man with schizophrenia is still missing three weeks after the St. Louis nursing home where he lived was suddenly closed.
ST. LOUIS — A 61-year-old man with schizophrenia remains missing three weeks after the St. Louis nursing home he lived in suddenly closed.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol on Wednesday asked for the public's help in locating Frederick Carruthers, who was among the approximately 175 residents of the Northview Village nursing home before it closed on Dec. 15. issued a recommendation.
“Mr. Carruthers left Northview Nursing Home and has not been heard from since then,” the advisory states. “He doesn't have the medicine he needs.”
Residents were transferred to about a dozen other care facilities in the hours after the nursing home closed. Many patients returned home with only the clothes on their backs, leading to confusion and anger 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 said. She declined further comment, citing an ongoing regulatory investigation.
A St. Louis Police Department spokesperson said Friday that Carruthers remains at large. Four days after the nursing home closed, a former worker attending a rally spotted him near the downtown area where the vast nursing home is located.
Healthcare Accounting Services, which owns Northview Village and several other nursing homes in the St. Louis area, did not respond to a phone message seeking comment.
Mark Switzer, one of Northview's owners, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last month that the state doesn't pay enough to keep the facility afloat. He also accused employees of leaving without paying their salaries, an accusation that workers said was untrue.
“Of course I would have done it differently,” he said of the closure. “Other partners are also participating. But unfortunately, that's what happened.”
The union representing the workers said the company began closing residents' homes and bus transportation after employees raised concerns about unpaid salaries.
