GARDNER, Mass. — The wife of a man who escaped from a Gardner hospital where he was being held for a mental health evaluation is demanding answers and asking the public for help.
Leonard Mercury, 57, broke a window at Heywood Hospital and jumped from the roof into the bushes below before fleeing the property, according to an email from the hospital to Mercury’s wife, Nicole La Guerre.
La Guerre told Boston 25 News she had called police to their Westminster home Thursday after an argument with Mercury, who has been struggling with his mental health.
Police took Mercury to Heywood Hospital for a Section 12 mental health hold, La Guerre said.
“I don’t know how they allowed him to break a window, get on a roof, jump off a roof – and run how far? – with a guard posted at the door.” La Guerre said. “I am expecting the absolute worst. I’m hoping that what my brain is saying is not what’s happening.”
Mercury was wearing hospital clothes and no shoes. La Guerre fears he is hurt or worse after enduring the rain and cold.
“He just promised me that we’re going to be together forever,” La Guerre said through tears. “I’ve thought of it before: if Leonard’s not here, what would I do? But it’s not something that you think would ever happen.”
La Guerre and her family have been searching the hospital grounds and the nearby bike path police say Mercury was last seen running toward.
“I literally drove his car through the bike path just yelling his name,” La Guerre said. “I’ve gone to parks. I’ve started back at the hospital retracing my steps, trying to think, if I’m Leonard and I’m panicking, what my move would look like.”
La Guerre, who shares two sons with Mercury, is pleading with anyone who sees her husband or believes they have any information to call police.
“I don’t care how small the help is. I want any help at all,” La Guerre said. “I need him, his kids need him. I just need him to come home.”
Gardner police ask anyone who sees Mercury not to approach him but to call police immediately at 978-632-5600, or call 911.
Boston 25 News could not reach Heywood Hospital for comment Sunday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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