Husband presses on MISSING WOMAN, from page 1
SUNSET PARK — It was a night just like any other night. Rejelio Muñoz went to bed with his wife and expected to wake up with her. But when he awoke on the morning of May 21, she was gone and hasn’t been seen since.
When Margaret Rose Roberts, 62, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, didn’t return home after three hours, Muñoz called the police and filed a missing person’s report.
Since that time, he has been scouring the city in search of his wife with whom he has spent the last 35 years.
“You would have thought that covering 900 miles, I would have found her,” Muñoz said Friday, while driving in West LA looking for Roberts. “I’ve been under the bridges, in the bushes... I’ve got to cover everywhere. I can’t take any chances.
“It’s like the planet just swallowed her. It’s weird.”
Muñoz said Roberts left their Sunset Park house without her psychiatric medication, which allows her to function normally.He’s worried that she is not in her right mind and is vulnerable to the predators who lurk on the streets.
“I can’t sleep because I keep thinking about the horrible things that could be happening to her, especially in her state,” said Muñoz, 62, a retired West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Hospital worker. “But I’ve got to leave the negative stuff and hope for the best.”
Muñoz has distributed more than 100 missing person flyers describing Roberts throughout Los Angeles, including Santa Monica and Venice. He has posted them at her favorite places, like Norm’s Restaurant and Carrow’s Restaurant, as well as homeless shelters in downtown LA, motels, hotels, parks and liquor stores.
Roberts also suffers from a chronic lung illness, which she was being treated for at the Venice Family Clinic. But the treatment for her lungs had interrupted the effects of her psychiatric medication, Muñoz said. He added that he noticed Roberts began acting strangely about a week prior to her disappearance and planned to address it when Roberts had her next scheduled appointment with her psychiatric doctor, whose office is located on Sepulveda and Olympic boulevards.
During his search, Muñoz learned that Roberts went to her doctor’s office two days after she disappeared, asking for financial assistance. But the staff there was not aware she was considered missing at the time, so they instructed her to come back when she had an appointment.
“They said she looked clean and had her purse,” Muñoz said, adding Roberts was wearing the same clothes that is in the picture he put on the flyers.
He is now in contact with Roberts’ doctor and the medical community, particularly mental institutions where she might end up.
Santa Monica Police Lt. Frank Fabrega said Roberts’ information has been shared with law enforcement agencies throughout the country.
“If she is stopped by an officer, they will see that this information was posted,” he said.
Since Roberts’ disappearance, Muñoz has been getting up at 5 a.m. each day to continue looking for Roberts. He has combed Hollywood, a place she recently talked about wanting to visit, and just about every area surrounding it.
On Friday, he had returned to his Spanish-style home on 31st Street to take a shower and get something to eat before he resumed his search. He said Thursday night was the first night he’s been able to get any sleep, but that was because his neighbor gave him four sleeping pills.
“My head feels like it has lead in it,” Muñoz said of the lack of sleep and the anxiety of his missing wife whom he has lived with in Santa Monica for 30 years.
Roberts, who met Muñoz 36 years ago while working at the VA, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia four years ago and has been on medication ever since.
“As long as she stays on the medication, she’s normal and she functions in everyday life,” Muñoz said, adding that Roberts begins to lose a sense of reality and paranoia sets in if she is off the medication. “Without that medication for her head, forget about it.”
Margaret Rose Roberts is 62 years old, has light brown hair and blue eyes. She is five feet, one inch tall and weighs 102 pounds. She has a red birthmark on the back of her neck and a small mole on her nose. Anyone with any information is asked to call Muñoz at (310) 922-2633.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 10, 2006. Read the original PDF.