A La Palma family who is desperate to find their missing mother has hired private investigators. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024.
A La Palma family who is desperate to find their missing mother has hired private investigators to join in their urgent search.
The family of Geetaben Patel also wanted to raise awareness about mental health after the matriarch of the family disappeared from their home a month ago on Sep. 2.
That afternoon, Patel, 58, is seen on security footage running out of the house on Del Sol Circle at approximately 2:14 p.m. She was barefoot in her pajamas and suffering a mental health episode, according to her family.
“She locked herself in the bathroom, really paranoid and scared,” Sagar Patel, 30, the son of the missing woman, described his mother’s behavior Labor Day weekend. “She thought people were trying to kill her, rape her.”
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Patel said isolation during the pandemic caused mental issues for his mother, who takes medication for schizophrenia, but hasn’t been officially diagnosed with the disorder. Patel said that weekend, his mother had been off her medications for about four weeks.
“I don’t know if my mom heard the front door close, my car take off, but she ran after us or at me,” he said. “She left through the front door.”
Patel was last seen on a neighbor’s security camera hovering around a neighbor’s front yard near Santa Margarita Lane.
Patel said his mom once wandered off to a friend’s house but never disappeared like this.
Dr. Neel Doshi, who has not treated Patel, said wandering off is a common symptom of mental illness, but it's uncommon for mental health patients to disappear for this long.
“It's an unfortunate reality that, you know, our loved ones who experience mental health issues, may need an outlet that they're not currently able to find,” said Doshi, a psychiatrist with Kaiser Permanente Orange County. “They don't have an outlet and for them, sometimes the only release may come from stepping away from their current situation.”
La Palma Police who have also been searching every day do not suspect foul play
“What makes it unusual is the fact that she’s been gone for about a month,” said Sgt. James Roche, a detective sergeant with La Palma Police. “She has no shoes, she didn’t bring her phone with her. Generally when people go missing voluntarily, they tend to turn up pretty quickly. That’s the part that makes it unusual. Quite frankly, we just don’t know where she is.”
Patel is pleading for everyone to help find his mother. He also wants to send a message to anyone else living with loved ones suffering from mental illness.
“In our family culturally, it’s not talked about as much. (It's) frown upon,” said Patel. “Hopefully, this helps other families not have to go through what we’ve been through.”
“I hope you’re doing OK mom, I love you,” said Patel as he cried. “I just want you back.”
