ST. LOUIS – A man who had been living on the street since the Northview Village Nursing Home closed without warning in December 2023 has been found.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department canceled an endangered silver advisory Tuesday afternoon for Frederick “Freddie” Carruthers.

Around 2:30 p.m. Monday, a FOX 2 camera caught a glimpse of the 61-year-old in the parking lot of the White Castle restaurant at Kingshighway and Natural Bridge in north St. Louis, but he wandered out of view and slipped away. 

“The other day he was in here,” Maurice Terry, a White Castle regular, said. “A woman and me told him that people were looking for him. He said, ‘You don’t know me,’ ran out, and caught the bus.”

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“Yeah, I’ve been looking for him,” Mack Hill, who frequents the area, said. “I came down the street and I just looked around the corners, because I know him when I see him.” 

Carruthers’ court-appointed guardian told FOX 2 that a relative had come forward and started searching for him almost daily. At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Carruthers was spotted again at the McDonald’s across the street. That relative recognized Carruthers and called the police.

Police and an ambulance came. Carruthers was taken to a hospital for evaluation; out of the cold and out of danger.

With high temperatures expected to reach only single digits in the coming week, the news is a huge relief.

“I’m so glad they found that man because he would have been laying somewhere out here stiff because he didn’t have anywhere to go,” Terry said.

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“Thanks to FOX 2 for being on their jobs,” Hill said.

Carruthers has schizophrenia and is a ward of the state. The Public Administrator of the City of St. Louis was declared his legal guardian in 2011.

Northview Village, located in north St. Louis, closed on Dec. 15, 2023, with little to no warning for residents, their families, and staff. In many cases, they were unable to collect their belongings before leaving. The other 174 former Northview residents had been accounted for and were relocated to other nursing homes, with family, or at hospitals, according to long-term care advocates.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services confirmed it has launched an investigation of Northview’s operator, Healthcare Accounting Services, LLC, or HAS. The company has an office in Brentwood.

On Monday, former Northview Village employees rallied together outside the office of their previous owner, Healthcare Accounting Services (HAS). Union demonstrators called for former workers to be paid in full.

St. Louis Congresswoman Cori Bush joined the workers on Monday to demand that the company compensate all employees. She also called for a federal investigation of the home’s sudden closure, saying the company violated the WARN Act by failing to give employees at least a 60-day notice of Northview Village’s closure.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.