The family of a missing Cape Breton man says he had been living with mental health issues at the time of his disappearance, and now they are questioning whether he should have been released from hospital.
Kenneth Douglas MacNeil, 50, of Leitches Creek, N.S. was last seen at his trailer on Aug. 27.
His family discovered he was missing when they went to check on him. They say the door to his trailer was open and the TV was on, but no one was home.
MacNeil hasn’t been seen or heard from him since.
“It will be two weeks tomorrow. We haven’t heard a word,” says his sister, Rose MacIsaac. “Nobody has seen him. I think he’s gone.”
MacNeil’s family says he has been living with mental health issues for a number of years and was released from hospital just days before he disappeared.
“I thought it was a big mistake because he had some strange ideas about different things that maybe should have been explored a little bit more closely,” says his brother, John Harvey MacNeil.
“If he had of been still in there, maybe all of this wouldn’t be going on now,” says MacIsaac.
Officials with the Cape Breton District Health Authority say they can’t discuss individual cases.
MacNeil’s family says health care officials need to be more patient when treating people with mental health issues, and need to be better prepared so no one has to experience the pain they have been feeling for the past two weeks.
“Not to be so fast in judging whether a person is ready to go or not, just for the sake of having another empty bed,” says John.
“It’s not a nice thing to go through,” says MacIsaac. “It’s horrible.”
The family has made nearly 100 posters and distributed them across the island. They say they have one simple message for their brother:
“We’re not mad at him or anything,” says John. “We love him very much. We hope he comes home safe.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kyle Moore
