MENTALLY ILL WOMAN DISAPPEARS\Brother says retirement home waited too long to tell police, family.Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer A 66-year-old woman with a history of mental health problems vanished from a retirement home in Sylmar nearly a week ago, and relatives say officials at the facility were slow in notifying her family and police. Joanne Brown Joanne Brown (born April 7, 1972 in Canberra) is a former softball catcher and outfielder from Australia, who won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics. She was inducted into the Softball Australia Hall of Fame in 2004. , last seen at the Astoria Terrace Retirement Center on Wednesday morning, missed three daily doses of her anti-depressant medication and a doctor's appointment before staff reported her disappearance to police about midnight Friday, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. center officials. "I think it's neglect," said Bill Brown, the brother of the missing woman. Officials at the retirement home, which is in the 14000 block of Astoria Street and is licensed as a board-and-care facility, said residents are free to come and go as they wish at all hours. Asked whether the facility waited too long to report Brown missing and notify her family, administrator Evelyn Juni said, "I guess, yes, we did." But, she added, "We cannot keep track of all the residents." Family members said Brown has been diagnosed as suffering from paranoia paranoia (pr'ənoi`ə), in psychology, a term denoting persistent, unalterable, systematized, logically reasoned delusions, or false beliefs, usually of persecution or grandeur. , schizophrenia schizophrenia (skĭt'səfrē`nēə), group of severe mental disorders characterized by reality distortions resulting in unusual thought patterns and behaviors. and mild retardation retardation: see mental retardation. , and takes medication to prevent anxiety and agitation agitation /ag·i·ta·tion/ (aj?i-ta´shun) excessive, purposeless cognitive and motor activity or restlessness, usually associated with a state of tension or anxiety. Called also psychomotor a. . Bill Brown said he knows of no relatives, friends or acquaintances his sister might have gone to visit without telling anyone. Juni acknowledged that two other residents, a 75-year-old man and his 51-year-old female companion, a diabetic who needs regular doses of insulin, also have been missing since Friday. Knute Martin, an official of the Community Care Licensing Division of the state Social Services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales Department, said retirement facilities, unlike nursing homes, are not required to control their residents' comings and goings. However, "One would expect that the facility's operators would keep better track of the residents," he said. CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo Joanne Brown Suffers from schizophrenia |
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