Resident with dementia found dead in woods behind Akron assisted living facility
Editor's note: This report was updated Nov. 14, 2022, to reflect that Joan Meredith was a resident of the assisted living facility at The Merriman, not the nursing care facility.
An 82-year-old resident of an Akron assisted living facility was found dead from hypothermia in a wooded area behind the building Tuesday morning, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office, Beacon Journal news partner News 5 Cleveland reported.
Joan Meredith had dementia, and her son, Tom Freiheit, told News 5 that the staff at The Merriman on Merriman Road lost track of her and mistakenly thought she had been signed out of the facility by family. On Tuesday morning, the family said they received a phone call from the facility asking when they were bringing her back.
Freiheit believes his mother may have been out in the elements for at least 40 hours.
Gary Guenther, chief investigator with the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office, said Meredith was last seen by other residents Sunday evening. He said that when she wasn't there Monday morning, staff presumed she'd been taken out of the facility by family.
Staff began searching for her Tuesday morning after they called her family to see when she'd return and realized she hadn't left the facility with them. Akron EMS was called at 11:47 a.m. after she was found, said Guenther, who said she was outside "a couple days."
Meredith's family hired attorneys Eric Henry and Tim Misny, who are considering filing a civil lawsuit. Henry said the Ohio Department of Health will conduct an investigation.
News 5 was awaiting comment from The Merriman and also left a message with ODH officials seeking comment on the process of the investigation.
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The Merriman is operated by Merriman Operations LLC, a for-profit company with ownership split 50-50 between Solomon Kazarnovsky and Abba Stein, according to Medicare.gov.
There are no reported deficiencies related to poor staffing, abuse or neglect in the past few years at The Merriman. The new owners took control April 8, 2022. No complaint-driven inspections centered on abuse or neglect.
To read the full story and interview with Freiheit, click here.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Resident found dead in woods behind Akron assisted living facility
