Woman Blames Hospital In Sun Valley After Sister With Mental Illness Disappears

CRENSHAW DISTRICT (CBSLA.com) — A woman is pointing the finger at a Sun Valley hospital after she says her sister who suffers from mental illness vanished.

"We just want her to be found safe," said Jennifer Lujan, who is accusing Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Sun Valley of being careless in her sister's disappearance.

"They're responsible for her being missing right now," said Lujan.

She explains that on Wednesday afternoon, the hospital put 38-year-old patient Kasey Lucious into a cab and sent her to Crenshaw Nursing Home more than 17 miles away.

The cab company confirmed it dropped off Lucious but doesn't know where she went after she got out of the cab.

"In her state of mind, she could be anywhere, and the way the people are out here on the streets and everywhere else, they could take her, they could hurt her, they could kill her and no one would ever know," said Charlotte Belk, the woman's aunt.

The nursing home in Crenshaw says it notified Pacifica Hospital that it had a free bed but never got confirmation that Lucious was being sent over.

A statement from the home read: "We did not hear anything back from Pacifica Hospital until approximately 4 p.m. Pacifica Hospital said that they sent the patient over to Crenshaw Nursing in a Taxi cab around 2 p.m. rather than in an ambulance as is customary. As far as we know, the patient never entered Crenshaw Nursing Home."

After several phone calls to Pacifica Hospital, a CBS2 news crew tried getting answers in person but was told to leave.

Lucious hasn't taken her medication since she went missing. Her family is sick with worry.

"She don't need to be out there by herself," Lujan said.

Lucious was last seen in a black T-shirt with green shorts. She has a bump or a knot on her head.