Linnea Lomax, 19, Missing After Leaving Mental Health Facility

By Sami K. Martin, Christian Post Reporter Monday, July 02, 2012

Linnea Lomax, 19, is feared missing after leaving a mental health center on Tuesday, but authorities do not suspect foul play. Her family has used social media sites and appeared on TV in order to ask their daughter to return home.

"We think she is scared and does not want to be found at this point," the Lomax family spokesperson Heidi Hutchinson told The Huffington Post. "She was at the clinic for an all day visit, but she walked out during lunch and never came back."

Lomax was being treated for a mental breakdown due to the stress of finals, her family explained. She had been in treatment for one week before being transitioned to outpatient therapy.

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"I think people call it a nervous breakdown. I don't know if that's the technical term for it, but she just got so stressed she broke down," her father Craig told CBS. "She had lost a lot of weight and she was very stressed and wasn't being reasonable."

The family checked her into the facility and once Lomax began showing progress, she was released into outpatient care. She was an A-student at the University of California-Davis, where she was studying human development with the hope of attaining a degree in nursing.

"Linnea is an angel. She is very smart. She is very sweet and caring," Hutchinson said. "She is normally a very self-confident, self-assured and well-adjusted young woman. She has a bright future, a loving, supportive family and a heck of a lot of friends."

Those friends are now volunteering to help look for Lomax and are using Twitter and Facebook to spread the word. One hope is that Lomax will see all the notices and return home to her family.

According to a flyer, "Lomax is considered at-risk because her disappearance is inconsistent with her normal behavior patterns." Anyone who sees Lomax, however, is encouraged not to approach her but to immediately call the Sacramento Sheriff's Department at 916-874-5115.