Patricia Rother, 50, Missing [FOUND SAFE] Artesia, CA

[Faith]

Missing woman has schizophrenia
By Joe Stevens, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/06/2008 09:24:45 PM PDT

LONG BEACH - An Artesia woman with schizophrenia has been missing since Friday morning and doesn't have her medication, family members said on Tuesday.

The 50-year-old woman, Patricia Rother, lives in a group home - Founders House of Hope on Pioneer Boulevard. She had a medical appointment Friday morning at 2360 Pacific Ave. in Long Beach. Instead of being driven there, a taxi dropped her off seven miles east at Los Coyotes Imaging, 3320 Los Coyotes Diagonal, her sister Mary Howard said.

"I personally think there was a mix-up at the group home," Howard said. "We learned that she was dropped off where somebody else was supposed to go."

Charles Rother had been looking for his lost sister throughout the weekend around Pacific Avenue but learned Monday about the mix-up.

"These people at the home are functioning," he said. "She would have realized that she was at the wrong place. But what I think happened was a sequence of errors. Maybe she got on a bus and tried to go to her appointment or go back home."

The missing woman, who goes by "Patti," is 5 feet tall, weighs 150 to 160 pounds and was last seen wearing a cream-colored sweater and blue jeans. Rother has shoulder-length blonde hair with some gray. She has thick eyebrows, green eyes, glasses and is a smoker.

The family has filed a missing persons report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and anyone who has seen Rother is urged to the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.

"I'm very concerned," Howard said. "If she has her medication, she's OK. But she needs her medication and it would have worn off by now."

joe.stevens@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1281

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_9176123

[Faith]

Missing Artesia woman returns home
REUNION: After 10 days, 50-year-old was found unconscious, off her medication.
By Joe Stevens, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/12/2008 10:16:26 PM PDT

LYNWOOD - An Artesia woman with schizophrenia was reunited with her family Monday after being missing for 10 days.

The 50-year-old woman, Patti Rother, was discovered passed out on a bench in Lynwood on Saturday. She was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, where hospital staff determined she was a missing person on Monday.

Rother's brother, Charles Rother, described his sister as "dehydrated" and "delusional." She had been without her medication for the 10 days, and he said she hadn't been without medication for about 18 to 20 years.

Patti Rother is not expected to have any long-term problems. But she still is recovering from her ordeal.

"When she came into the hospital, her kidneys were getting close to shutting down," Charles Rother said. "Somehow, her purse was still with her. She had some cash, but her wallet was gone."

Rother said his family has been through a range of emotions during Patti's missing period.

"My focus was to try to find her and to avoid becoming emotional," Charles said. "With some family members, they were very depressed. Others were angry, talking about who was responsible. There was a lot of anguish. It hurts when you lose anything that's important to you. But nothing has more anguish than if you lose a loved one."

Patti Rother had been missing since being dropped off by a taxi at the wrong location on May 2.

Rother, who lives in a group home called Founders House

of Hope on Pioneer Boulevard, was dropped off at Los Coyotes Imagining at 3320 Los Coyotes Diagonal. She was supposed to be taken to an appointment at 2360 Pacific Ave.

joe.stevens@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1281
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_9239680

[Roamer]

I'm glad she's safe, but wouldn't the cabdriver have some fault here, for dropping her off at the wrong place? She obviously was lost and couldn't care for herself. :0009: