OCEOLA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — When Louis Green went to visit his 79-year-old mother Althea Green on Sunday, he was surprised to learn that management of the adult foster care home where she'd been living in Livingston County had moved her to another one of their nearby locations in Oceola Township near Hartland.
Louis Green said management from Posey's Senior Care Homes told him that they probably should have asked and he agrees.
Althea Green, who was about to celebrate her 80th birthday next month, had dementia.
"I think the other home was definitely more secure," Louis Green told 7 Action News.
He said Posey's homes advertises that they specialize in patients with dementia and he appreciated the care they delivered to his mother, but in a few weeks, he was going to be moving his mom to another adult foster care home, so that she would be closer to loved ones.
Posey's management was aware that Louis Green was going to be moving his mother, so he was surprised that they relocated her to another house with the little time that she was to remain in their care.
Then on Monday, everything changed.
Louis Green received a phone call while he was out of town that his mother was missing.
"She shouldn't be able to walk away from a facility that is supposed to be secure," he said. "I think they're nice people, but you know, there are some things that should have happened that didn't. She should not have been able to walk away. And when she did walk away, there shouldn't have been a 35 to 45 minute gap before somebody realized that she was gone."
As Louis Green arranged to fly back to Michigan on the first flight available, volunteers joined the Livingston County Sheriff's Office and Michigan State Police to search for Althea Green. They searched into the night and continued to look for her Tuesday morning.
It's hard to think Althea Green could have gotten far on the long country roads without someone noticing her, and the dirt roads and wooded areas could not have been easy for her to navigate.
Then late Tuesday morning, a civilian searching a little over a quarter mile away from the home found her.
The woman, whose loved ones said she could light up a room, had been found dead in what sheriff's office investigators describe as a small clearing with tall weeds, surrounded by woods.
A woman who identified herself as a member of the Posey family declined to comment and said there was an investigation underway.
7 Action News reached out to the state of Michigan and a spokesperson for the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) said that they are aware that a resident walked away from Green Acres on Green Road in Fenton "but that she was in fact a resident of Fenton Assisted Living," which is located on Linden.
What's unclear is how that could affect any potential investigation by LARA.
Both Green Acres and Fenton Assisted Living are owned by members of the Posey family, including Theresa Posey.
The sheriff's office said there is no evidence of foul play and detectives are continuing to investigate.
Anyone who may have information regarding this manner is asked to call Detective Fairbanks at 517-546-2440.
