BARRINGTON (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital officials in Barrington have offered no explanation regarding how two patients went missing from the hospital’s emergency room — with one ending up dead.
The patients went missing on Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon. There were concerns about both patients' mental health.
Sixty-one-year-old Michelle Riechers walked out on Monday. A search by police took about four hours before a Lake County sheriff's canine tracked her to a retention pond on the hospital grounds.
A drone was used to find her body, and authorities said Riechers died of drowning.
In the second case, a 35-year-old man left Good Shepherd on Tuesday wearing only boxer shorts.
The man was found on Wednesday, safe, in Fox River Grove. Police said they believe he walked two miles and met someone who provided him with clothes.
He was returned to Advocate Good Shepherd by ambulance.
It's unclear why either patient was initially admitted to the hospital. The Daily Herald reported a spokesperson for Good Shepherd declined to say how they could just walk away.
The spokesperson said she wouldn't elaborate out of respect for the patients and their family's privacy.
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