Missing CAMH patient case of miscommunication

The latest incident of a patient that went missing from the Centre for Addiction for Mental Health (CAMH) appears to be a case of miscommunication.

Shawn O’Neil, 65, went missing from a CAMH halfway house near Dundas Street West and Crawford Street around 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Toronto police said they found him around 9 a.m. Thursday.

According to CAMH, O’Neil was never actually missing. As part of his treatment, he is supposed to check in with the centre periodically to make sure his treatment is on track. CAMH says when he did that on Wednesday, they determined he needed to be admitted.

However, the halfway house was not informed of this development and when he didn’t return, they called police and reported him missing.

O’Neill is the latest scare for residents living around CAMH. Three of the five missing men from July have been found, but two remain at-large.

Zhebin Cong, 47, has been missing since July 3, when he was last seen in the Queen Street and Ossington Avenue area at around 4 p.m.

CAMH said Cong was on an unaccompanied pass permitted by the Ontario Review Board (ORB), but failed to return to the facility. Police later revealed that Cong had flown out of the country.

Cong was an in-patient at the secured forensic unit of CAMH and deals with schizophrenia, ORB records show.

Earlier this week, another CAMH patient, 45-year-old Anthony Murdock, went missing. He was last seen on Tuesday around 2:20 p.m. in the area of Queen Street West and Ossington Avenue area.

Police said he was out with an escort on an accompanied pass when he walked away. Police said Murdock was found not criminally responsible for an indecent act that occurred in 1998.

CAMH has also launched an external review of its process when it comes to passes and privileges for patients.