My name is Susan Murphy and I reside in rural Westport. I have been a full-time caregiver for an 87-year-old family member for seven years. Earlier this year his condition worsened and he was hospitalized. As the time for his release is finally approaching, I sought a person who could help me with caregiving. My own body was beginning to show the strain of years of 24/7 stress, and I now need help to continue.
I did find a person who seemed qualified, personable, bright and very cooperative, and provided that person with a room to stay in while we awaited the homecoming of our mutual ‘patient.’
On Monday, Oct. 20, upon returning home from a doctor’s appointment to discuss his return home from months of hospitalizations, complications and rehab, I was expecting to share dinner with our new helper. I entered the kitchen to find a prescription drug bottle lying on its side on the counter. I checked the label, noticing it was old and something we rarely used. Opening the cupboard to put it away, I discovered that every prescription bottle that had been in that cupboard was gone. No one else was around, and the entrance to the room our new ‘helper’ was staying in had been padlocked from the outside.
I could not believe what I was seeing. It made no sense to me. Most of those medications would be completely useless and possibly dangerous for anyone seeking any mood-altering results. They were vital to those of us for whom they had been prescribed. A box of 100 Insulin syringes and approximately 20 doses of flea treatment for cats and dogs was also gone.
It took three days and considerable out-of-pocket expense to replace my medications, while I suffered the effects of sudden withdrawal, as some of the medications were not meant to be abruptly stopped.
The event was reported three times over the course of the next 48 hours before law enforcement personnel assigned a case number. There were close to 35 different medications taken, with a replacement cost of at least $4,000.
This act has shown an appalling lack of concern towards one of society’s most vulnerable population groups.
The stolen goods were of very little use to whomever has taken them, but quite important for the continued health of the victims. Elderly people have been held in high esteem for millennia until recently. Something so unconscionable, pointless and thoughtless done to the detriment of people who ought to be safe from such actions is a sorry statement of our current times.
For this reason, my children are posting a reward of $250 reward to the person or persons who supplies information leading to the arrest and subsequent prosecution of the perpetrator.
If anyone else would care to increase the value of the award, please contact the South Beach Bulletin.
Anyone who can offer helpful information about this matter is requested to please contact the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office at: 360- 533-8765 and be sure to reference Case # 14-13737.
Susan Murphy
Westport
