Missing Psychiatric Hospital Patient Found In Mendon

February 28, 2012 3:40 PM

John Lavallee (Photo courtesy: Uxbridge Police)

UXBRIDGE (CBS) – Authorities have located a patient who escaped from a state psychiatric hospital last week.

Twenty-eight-year-old John Lavallee escaped from Worcester State Hospital last Thursday.

He was found in Mendon Tuesday afternoon.

Investigators originally ended their search for Lavallee Tuesday morning soon after they found a campsite in the woods they believed to be his.

tsalnew

I can only smile when they say he isn’t a danger to others and in the same breath tell the neighborhood to lock doors and windows. There are police and dos and helicopters all over the place – who knows how he would react when desperate. There are a lot of woods in that area. With any luck they will find him soon so the quiet neighborhood can relax.
tsalnew

I was wondering why BZ reported the search had ended since I knew it hadn’t. I know the residents in the area are greatly relieved. And it’s great that he will be back in safe care.
C.Hall

C.Hall

As someone who has worked in the mental health field I was very alarmed by the response of the media. Having a mental illness does not mean you are a threat to others, watching the coverage and the actions of the police looked like events from a movie, we should all be ashamed of ourselves!

Tsalnew

Really CHall. I do not believe anyone in the neighborhood was not sympathetic to this young mans plight . Everyone interviewed voiced his concern. In the same light and not knowing what dangers were posed I would hope you could be as understaning for those living in the area.