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Oldest son went missing

(42 Posts)
felice Sat 11-Mar-17 09:46:29

I and now recovering from a very stressful few days. On Wednesday afternoon my oldest son 42 went missing.
He has mental health problems and is classed as vulnerable.
His carer called the Police who took it very seriously, it was the second time in a week, and first time he has ever done this.
The Police set a 20 person team searching for him all over Edinburgh where he lives.
They finally decided to talk to me and on hearing what was going on I immediately clicked what was happening.
I have posted before of the unnatural relationship between my adopted Mother and this son, well, she is 98 now and has been going on to everyone who will listen about who is going to look after the 'baby' when she is gone.
It seems she has been telling him he must 'find' his Mum and Brother and Sister or he will be put out on the street.
As he has never ever lived with her and is or was in a happy situation with a carer it is all rubbish.
So he set off last Monday to Glasgow airport to fly to Portugal, where we all used to live, luckily he did not have his passport.
Then he visited my Mother in her care home on Tuesday evening, took £400 out of the bank the next day and seems to have headed north, he grew up in the North east.
He was eventually found in the Cafe in Aberdeen Bus/train station last night at 21.00.
It was only when he activated his bank card that the Police took us seriously about looking North, and yes I did say 'I told you so', to the Sgt who phoned.
I am now trying to get my head round it all, I want to shake my Mother, but she is denying to all and sundry that she encouraged this event, even though one of the staff in the home heard her talking to him.
I do not know if his carer will take him back into her home she is very upset as the Police treated her very badly tore her house apart even bringing in the Anti-terrorist squad and a drugs sniffer dog. No one has any criminal record and my son was being seen everywhere so they knew he had not 'disappeared' completely.
He has lived for 17 years with his carer and part of the family.
We had the most amazing response from social media, FB and Twitter, and really kind comments and discovered how popular he is, also that he seems to be known in every pub in Edinburgh, he doesn't drink alcohol just likes to socialise.
Some of the questions asked by the Police really frustrated me, if I was asked once who his friends were in Aberdeen I was asked a hundred times, I kept saying he does not know anyone there, and they would ask the question another way.
Sorry I am going on now, but just needed to write it all down.
He is being assesed in hospital just now so we need to see what happens next.
Thanks for listening x

felice Sun 12-Mar-17 09:00:51

f77ms, it is a system in Edinburgh, I do not know if anywhere else, where adults with controlled mental health problems live in the community but in the homes of trained professionals. DS1s' carer is a retired Mental Health Nurse.
I suppose you could say DGS is her lodger, it is for those who work and can mix in society.
He has a care worker(about as much use as a chocolate teapot to be honest, change all the time and get younger by the minute).
I think it is a great system, I certainly would be unable to cope with DS1 and I think sometimes parents/family are inclined to be too soft with behavioural issues.
Off to Church now with DGS, I wonder if the anti-terrorist squad will be waiting when we get home,,,,,¨wink.
When I get a minute I will wrtite the type of ridiculous quetions I was asked, and my reply to the officer who asked me if I understood the current terrorist threat. I live in Brussels for sake.

PRINTMISS Sun 12-Mar-17 09:09:24

I am just so glad that he was found safe and well. A shame you had to go through all that, but I suppose if the police and authorities do not ask the questions on the agenda, and something goes seriously wrong, then the buck stops with them. What a really horrible time for you though.

NfkDumpling Sun 12-Mar-17 20:53:19

It sounds a marvellous system Felice, but it's not in here in my bit of England. Perhaps just a Scotish thing or a trial? I suspect there may be a slight shortage of professional workers here!

radicalnan Mon 13-Mar-17 09:39:33

I am glad you have had a happy ending.. but Oh my goodness it takes it out of you this sort of thing. People think when the wanderer returns that is the end of it but your energies are depleted for ages afterwards.

Look after yourself catch up on your sleep and eat well..........

The police don't seem to have been very sensitive and such behaviour impacts on the carer too............

Bless you, all of you.

xx

harrysgran Mon 13-Mar-17 10:10:55

Sorry you are going through such a difficult time our children are always a worry no matter what age they are hope your son gets the help he needs

Solitaire Mon 13-Mar-17 10:12:32

* Felice* wineflowers I'm short on time today but really thinking of you. X

Sheilasue Mon 13-Mar-17 10:41:22

So sad to hear your news my thoughts are with you. I hope that things get sorted out ok.

moxeyns Mon 13-Mar-17 11:03:15

<sucks air through teeth> Theological college? And now Trappist beer? No wonder the anti-terrorist squad were after you - clearly radicalised! (Good grief...)

Sounds a terrible time, Felice. Hope all settles back to normality Real Soon!

MissAdventure Mon 13-Mar-17 11:07:35

sharedlivesplus.org.uk/
For anyone who is interested. I dont know why this seems to be so little known.

BlueBelle Mon 13-Mar-17 11:33:48

I m not sure I ve got all this.... you live in Brussels His Grandmother is in Scotland and he was trying to get to Portugal where you used to live Which police were interrogating you Belgian police or British over the phone?

Anyway I m glad it's all sorted and he's back where he should be perhaps your mum has dementia at 98 and is living in a parallel world ?

ajanela Mon 13-Mar-17 11:57:04

Unfortunately with so many people with dementia type conditions and lack of funds large institutional hospitals maybe the only way of caring for them all.

Jaycee5 Mon 13-Mar-17 12:00:41

Glad it is all seems to be working out now Felice. It must have been very stressful.

It is annoying when people keep rephrasing a question when they don't like the answer. A surprising number of people do that.

VIOLETTE Mon 13-Mar-17 14:36:11

Gosh you have had a time of it !! Glad that for the moment at least all is well ...albeit not your stress levels ! It would have been bad enough if you had lived in the UK but from Belgium, what did they expect you to do >! I live in France so know the heightened risk of security and in all honesty I expect the level of involvement from the Police you had is probably to be expected in this day an age sadly ....they are criticised if anything happens and criticised if they go through all these procedures and nothing happens ! I guess we have to go through this rigorous process nowadays.

Having said all that like others who have responded I also worked in a MH Unit which was a fairly open unit with only one secure facility for those considered a danger to themselves or others ....not very secure though...once passed a patient walking to the reservoir and phoned the unit for someone to come and get her (I was in a traffic jam to get home from work)

On the whole you relative sounds fairly happy and content and is so lucky that he is in a nice home with decent people .....shame your mother upset him .......like you say, he needs to have someone to supervise his visits to her if she upsets him,

Worrying time for all concerned ! Enjoy (or hope you enjoyed making the cakes and eating them !)

Bon courage ! flowers cupcake

felice Mon 13-Mar-17 14:47:11

It was the Scottish police on the phone, my Mother is 100% mentally fit, and knew exactly what she was doing, and seemingly revelled in all the attention she got.
She is poison, always had been, a person who does not want to have her own children should never have been persuaded or allowed to adopt.
My son is back at work today so we have to wait and see how things go when he gets home.

Marieeliz Mon 13-Mar-17 20:38:08

Similar things do happen here in England only slightly different. Social Care buy large houses and convert them for people who need support and carers go in around the clock. There are a number of them by me. Some of the neighbours aren't too happy. As these are usually in an expensive house area.

We see them being taken to the Post Office to get their money out. I wonder why they cannot do something similar for the elderly. It must be quite costly so where the money comes from I don't know.

Met a Nun getting off the bus one evening, when walking the dog, she asked me where a certain address was and I told her it was at the top of the road up hill. It was 9 pm and she was obviously doing the overnight shift.

Maggiemaybe Tue 14-Mar-17 18:59:19

What an awful experience for you. Was it the police who found him in the end? They're usually getting criticism for not taking missing person reports seriously. Thank goodness they did in this case. Who knows what might have happened to him if they'd delayed taking action?