The time that passed before she was reported, isn't that odd.
I have a mother with mental illness as well.
We visited her Friday. Couldn't get ahold of her Saturday.
Thought maybe she had a migraine... not too worried.
Sunday rolls around. People are banging on her apartment door all day.
No response. No sign that she's been out smoking.
Her blinds are partially open and they haven't moved since Friday.
She is paranoid about those and closes them at night.
Okay, something is clearly wrong. But she lives in an apartment and it's Sunday.
So we called my Dad who fortunately had just returned to the state, with the key to her apartment.
She was not doing well at all and likely wouldn't have survived another day. She's still hospitalized.
My brother went in and pieced things together and realized it was serious. My Dad missed the signs.
However.... if she had not been in her apartment, we would not have known that until we made entry.
So it would have been more than 48 hours before she was reported missing.
My mother has a broken pelvis, so we were 99% sure she was home.
But Nikki is in much better physical shape and could be anywhere.
I don't know what her living situation is... but if the kids were gone for the weekend...
It's possible her disappearance wasn't discovered until they made entry too.
Then after the fact they connected the neighbor who saw her walking. :twocents:
I have a son with mental illness so I can relate.
I was thinking that since she had younger children, she did not live alone....that there might be a father living there or at least someone who is expecting her to return for the children.
Also, if you know your loved one is going through a tough time, you are more likely to worry if they don't check in. Our son has become extremely aware of this with us. If we contact him, he will at least give us a text. This summer he went through another very bad spell and attempted suicide the day before his 27th birthday. He is an Air Force vet. He has good periods of time and then tough times...and we are getting good at determining his mental state and recognizing certain triggers. It can be more difficult than expected.
After this most recent episode, his recovery was the most effective time we have had since he was discharged. We were able to relate to each other. Not just his dad and I talking TO him but actually feeling our son take in what we were expressing and then listening to him relate and express back to us. We shared our ongoing concerns about his self-medicating with alcohol. He agreed this is a problem he has. We told him that we need him to always respond to us in some way each day, whether a call or text or a post through SM...and he has. This has been important to us since he lives alone. He only lives a mile from our house but we just asked him to always respond in some way when we reach out. He has continued to do so and it has been a comfort on both sides.
Recognizing that Ms. Harris has a serious ongoing mental illness, her family surely would be concerned if she went on a walk one evening and never returned. But perhaps no one was expecting to be in touch with her....
Still, I am curious about it.
