Day Of Remembrance

It has been one year since Riley Hsieh went missing on 3/27/2023. He has not been heard from or seen since. Which sadly is not entirely true because according to a reputable source who unabashedly told me that he was spotted by multiple witness’s who watched him flee from the searchers. If in fact that is true, that would mean the searchers saw him but failed to engage and assist him! Quite disturbing in my mind because we are left with no intervention at all or a very bad attempt at one! Bottom line is education and appropriate response is a necessity. 

I would like to address the issue of disparity in Mendocino County’s response to families experiencing a serious mental illness crisis. 

First by stating that when an individual is experiencing such an episode, it is not a singular experience, it is a traumatizing, de moralizing family one! Secondly it is a community crisis that requires appropriate & quick action! Thirdly education and response should be cohesive and compassionate.

I have had the unfortunate experience of having to ask for help and intervention on many occasions through RCS crisis line & UPD, at that time there was not a working understanding of who was responsible for field crisis calls. RCS refused, UPD claimed they are not mental health workers and we did not have a mobile crisis unit. 

You soon learn that nobody wants to take on the responsibility of mitigating a mental illness crisis. That does not fly with SMI! Serious Mental Illness is a very cruel disease that is downplayed & seen as an individuals responsibility. Every day families are discriminated against as they try to navigate the system and get help as their loved one deteriorates into their illness! It is simply unacceptable. 

As I witnessed the response by MCSO & Search and rescue to locate and aid Riley Hsieh as he had walked away from home while having a Serious Mental Illness Crisis, I am terribly sad and disturbed. So sad for Riley and his family because I understand this on a deep personal level, it is painful and scary. I pray he is found safe and given the appropriate care and help. 

That is where the disparity comes in, unfair treatment in a time of a Serious Illness Crisis. The response and aid to Mr. Hsieh is not the norm in a Mental Illness Crisis in Mendocino County. The answer I received to aid my son during many crisis was none, until he committed a crime. 

If I were standing on the corner having a heart attack people would rush to my aid ASAP and call 911 a medical intervention no questions asked! If it is a person experiencing severe psychosis and paranoia which is a medical crisis we ignore it as if it is not our problem. The call for aid does not come if you are the mother, discrimination? The very ill street people we allow to remain sick without intervention and treatment is a disgusting lack of care for our community as a whole. Laws aside intervention is necessary Change is inevitable and unification of protocol is what we must strive for! 

It’s really shameful to see how quickly help arrives no questions asked if you have some sort of clout. But for families like mine we mostly get discarded like trash, like we’re the problem, being poor is the problem, we somehow don’t deserve an equitable response. 

Let’s delve into compassionate unified educated response. Our community would thrive in so many meaningful ways if we cared enough to appropriately address the needs of those battling Serious Mental Illness. 

Of note there are multiple people who went missing since Riley, some have been found others have not. Many of these people are in their early 20s and male which is when Serious Mental Illness most often occurs. Illness’s that are largely misunderstood with symptoms of delusions, paranoia and fright that make a person flee, they are scared and their rational and cognitive abilities malfunctioning!

Angel Murguia has been missing a little over a month also 24 years old, leaving a suicide note! We are losing our families and our future to Mental Illness and there is no support or intervention!