Mom of missing Reid Bricker fears she'll never see her son again
Parents say Reid Bricker, 33, discharged from hospital at 3:20 a.m. Saturday
The mother of a 33-year-old man who has been missing since Saturday is worried she'll never see him again.
"The uncertainty of it is killing us," said Bonnie Bricker.
Bricker said her son, Reid, suffers from mental health issues.
She said he had been deteriorating over the last 10 days. Bricker said Reid has a number of mental health problems, including depression. He had been in two different hospitals for two suicide attempts.
The night before Bricker went missing, he was taken to yet a third hospital, the Health Sciences Centre, by police, who were concerned for his safety, Bricker said. He was admitted to HSC involuntarily Friday night.
But when the family called the hospital to check in with him Saturday morning, they were told Bricker was not registered as a patient.
They later learned learned he was released in the middle of the night.
"Nobody knew that he was released at 3:20 in the morning," she said. "We know that he walked home from there because he had no money, no identification, just his phone and keys to his apartment."
Bricker said she and her husband, George, don't know the circumstances in which he was released from HSC, or what dialogue staff had with Bricker due to the privacy act.
"My husband went down to the Health Sciences Centre to find out when he left there and they would tell him nothing. They're hamstrung by PHIA [Personal Health Information Act]. They can lose their job if they say anything. They can tell you nothing because he is 33-years-old."
The couple didn't get any information until police pulled hospital surveillance footage and health records on Sunday.
There have been unconfirmed reports Bricker was seen hitchhiking on Highway 1 east near Deacon's Corner, carrying a backpack.
Bricker said Reid was a talented artist who had a strong passion for nature and a connection the Whiteshell area where he grew up hiking and camping.
She is worried sick his disappearance will end with the worst possible news.
"Days are OK because you know it's light outside. It's an optimistic time of day and I think, 'Well, if he's still alive maybe he's contemplating coming back.' But night's the worst time. It's dark and it's cold and it's lonely and I think of him out there by himself. It's bear season and there's so much territory."
Bricker is about five-foot-eight-inches tall with a thin build, short black hair and an unshaven face.
He was last seen wearing a grey and black North Face jacket, a black hooded sweater, a red T-shirt, black pants and black and grey shoes.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the missing persons unit at 204-986-6250.