A Portsmouth rehab facility called police after a resident had been gone for more than 24 hours.
But officers already knew where she had been.
Around 4 a.m., an officer had encountered the woman in the 2300 block of Gallia Street, walking around and talking about looking for country singer Brantley Gilbert, who she claimed was the father of her children.
Police said she appeared to be dealing with significant mental-health issues, but she was otherwise okay.
Later that afternoon, the rehab facility contacted police to report she had left about 24 hours earlier and had not returned.
Officers told staff they had already seen her that morning and that she was not considered missing at that point.
The facility said that if nobody had contact with her for another 24 hours, they would request a missing-person report.
Then the Facility Called Again
The next day, the facility contacted police again and reported the woman missing.
Officers soon located her near Jackson and Campbell Avenue.
This time, the woman told police she had left because she simply wanted out of the house.
Officers determined she was not under a court order requiring her to remain at the facility and did not consider her missing.
Police spoke with a supervisor at the residence, who asked officers to tell the woman she could return that evening or the following morning to collect her belongings.
She agreed and headed that way.
No missing-person report was filed.
The woman’s more recent court history lists her as homeless and includes previous arrests involving criminal trespass, child endangering, disorderly conduct, drug abuse, theft, criminal damaging, and escape.
This latest episode, though, did not end in an arrest.
It ended with police confirming that she was alive, had left the facility by choice, and was free to do so.
