Family searching for man with mental health problems

FAMILY MEMBERS OF Lenford Matthews, a 42-year-old man from Biabou, is asking for the public’s help in locating a member of the family with mental illness, even as they accuse the police and the mental health authorities of not doing enough to assist.

Susanne Forde-Providence told SEARCHLIGHT that Matthews, who has a 15-year history of mental illness is missing. She said he has been a repeat patient at the Mental Health Centre (MHC), and his family has been managing his illness, but on several occasions they have sought, and received the help of law enforcement to help take Matthews to the MHC for treatment. The overseas-based woman said he usually goes quietly with the police.

Matthews was released from the MHC in Glen on Thursday, February 5,2026 but two days later, on Saturday February 7, 2026 while Forde-Providence, who resides in the USA, said she was at work when Matthews called her in a state of heightened anxiety and was having auditory and visual hallucinations.

“…he was asking for help and said ‘call the police to get me help’…he was saying people coming to kill him…,” Forde-Providence said, while noting that her brother was begging her not to get off the phone with him.

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