ST. LOUIS – With the winter weather setting in, the search intensifies for a man who has been living on the street since the Northview Village Nursing Home closed without warning in Dec. 2023.
Fred Carruthers, 61, has been spotted repeatedly not far from his former home. A FOX 2 camera even caught a glimpse of him on Monday.
Carruthers’ court-appointed guardian searched the area of North Kingshighway and Natural Bridge Avenue in north St. Louis, a few blocks north of the nursing home.
Carruthers was seen walking across a White Castle parking lot around 2:30 p.m. Monday afternoon. A woman who works nearby said the man had been in the area almost daily.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol issued an endangered silver alert for him last week, saying he had schizophrenia and was without his medication.
Monday’s sighting was reported to police. However, Carruthers was not located. Witnesses say he is now wearing a blue jacket with the Pepsi logo. Carruthers has been roaming the streets since Northview Village closed, according to authorities.
The other 174 former Northview residents are now in other nursing homes, with family, or at hospitals, according to long-term care advocates.
Nearly 180 of the former employees at Northview rallied together on Monday outside the office of their previous owner, Healthcare Accounting Services (HAS). Union demonstrators called for former workers to be paid in full.
St. Louis Congresswoman Cori Bush joined the workers on Monday to demand that the company compensates all employees. She also called for a federal investigation of the home’s sudden closure.
Bush has written a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, saying HAS may have violated the WARN Act by failing to give employees at least a 60-day notice of Northview Village’s closure.
She also called for an investigation of the state of Missouri for what she called a lack of oversight in nursing homes like Northview, where workers were still unpaid and at least one former resident was still on the street.
“Every worker here today deserves answers and accountability,” she said. “Every resident who was abruptly displaced deserves answers and accountability. Every family member who anguished for days and days not knowing where their loved ones were deserve answers and accountability.”
With dangerous cold temperatures coming this week, Carruthers’ need for proper care is more urgent than ever. The Missouri State Highway Patrol asks anyone who sees Carruthers to call 911 to contact their nearest law enforcement agency, or call the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department at 314-444-5504.
