Gregory Hillman, Deceased - North Adams, Mass.

Poster's Note: I know that this child just turned 21 years old, but he suffers from bipolar, which most of you know my 18 y/o suffers from -- I pray that my son never "runs away" because of his mental health issues because as old as they are in years is not their true "age" and unless you've dealt with such a person, it's hard to explain:

"Gregory Hillman is an aspiring musician and architect, a former college student in Portland, Ore., and the third child in a family of four children from the beautiful Connecticut suburb of Darien. He also suffers from bipolar disorder and other mental health difficulties.
Now, he's missing.

Hillman managed to escape while being transferred from one mental health facility to another last week near North Adams, Mass., just days before he turned 21. He ran off into the woods and has not been seen since. Before the escape, he sent a suicide note to his sister and brother, saying he planned to drown himself in the Atlantic Ocean – leaving his family to fear they are in a race against time to find him.




...."



http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/07/gregory--hillman-is-an-aspiring-musician-and-architect-a-former-college-student-in-portland--ore-and-the-third-child-in-a.html#posts

Susmihara wrote:Poster's Note: I know that this child just turned 21 years old, but he suffers from bipolar, which most of you know my 18 y/o suffers from -- I pray that my son never "runs away" because of his mental health issues because as old as they are in years is not their true "age" and unless you've dealt with such a person, it's hard to explain:

"Gregory Hillman is an aspiring musician and architect, a former college student in Portland, Ore., and the third child in a family of four children from the beautiful Connecticut suburb of Darien. He also suffers from bipolar disorder and other mental health difficulties.
Now, he's missing.

Hillman managed to escape while being transferred from one mental health facility to another last week near North Adams, Mass., just days before he turned 21. He ran off into the woods and has not been seen since. Before the escape, he sent a suicide note to his sister and brother, saying he planned to drown himself in the Atlantic Ocean – leaving his family to fear they are in a race against time to find him.




...."



http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/07/gregory--hillman-is-an-aspiring-musician-and-architect-a-former-college-student-in-portland--ore-and-the-third-child-in-a.html#posts

---Thanks for inputting this story Susmi! Yesterday we added several missing and this is another I'll watch for updates on, and if you hear anything new, please let us know! TIA! Readers: Some news websites are making it difficult to bring pictures over. In cases like this, that makes absolutely no sense to me IMHO. Nonetheless, if you click on the image link above it will take you to Greg's pic.

NORTH ADAMS -- Police Director Michael Cozzaglio
said there has been no luck finding a 21-year-old man with mental
health issues who escaped from an ambulance in front of North Adams
Regional Hospital on Tuesday.
Cozzaglio reiterated his request that anyone who has seen
Gregory Hillman should contact the department immedieatly at (413)
664-4944.
Hillman is white, 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, with brown hair and
blue eyes. He has two weeks of beard growth and a recent cut in the
middle of his forehead. He was last seen wearing gold sweatpants, a
purple and grey horizontal stripped sweatshirt and brown sneakers. Cozzaglio said Hillman is not a danger to anyone else but is a
danger to himself. He said he may be heading east and may be looking
for a body of water.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- A father is making a plea for help in finding his
21-year-old son, who left behind a suicide note before he walked out of
a mental facility in the Berkshires earlier this week, was found by
staff, and then took off again after an ambulance stopped at a hospital.


Gregory Hillman was wearing a purple and grayish-striped sweatshirt
with a hood, gold sweatpants and brown sneakers when he ran away from a
mental health institution in Great Barrington, Mass. in the early hours
Monday, Peter Hillman said of his son. "He left a suicide note that he
was headed to the Atlantic to drown himself."The
staff quickly found the young man, who is 5-foot-10 and weighs 165
pounds, walking on a road a couple of miles from the facility. He was
taken to the Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield where people from
the facilities stayed with him all day Monday, the father said. His
son has medium, brown, curly hair and a month-old beard. Most
significantly, he has a distinguishing scar on his forehead, a fresh
scar, the father said.His son has a bipolar condition, said the
father who lives in North Pownal, Vt. "He's not a danger to anyone
else," Peter Hillman said. He described his son as a "gentle soul" who
has exhibited no evidence of violence.From Berkshire Medical
Center, his son was taken by ambulance to North Adams Regional
Hospital. As it pulled up at 6 p.m., the young man got out and took
off. The driver of the ambulance called police and then left, Peter
Hillman said.Police brought dogs, but there was nothing for them
to smell since the ambulance was gone. The father got his son's sheets
and clothing and the dog followed the scent through woods but lost it
on a main street.An all-points-bulletin has been issued, North Adams Police Director Michael Cozzaglio said today. "His whereabouts are unknown."A possible Catskill sighting has not been confirmed, Cozzaglio said.The
missing man's siblings set up a Facebook page and someone emailed
Amanda Hillman, a sister, that someone fitting her brother's
description was seen at the Greene County Social Services Department in
Catskill."Albany is not that far from North Adams, and he could
have been given a ride," Peter Hillman said. His medication would have
a sedating effect, "so he doesn't have the energy a normal 21-year-old
man has," he said. His son does not have his medication with him, which
could make him more lethargic as it wears off, he said.The link to the Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123173877836.Anyone with information about Hillman's whereabouts can call North Adams police at (413) 664-4944.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In the e-mails he sent to his big brother and
sister, and the note he left on his pillow at a private mental-health
facility in western Massachusetts on Monday, 21-year-old Gregory
Hillman thanked them for everything they'd done for him.



But he just couldn't go on anymore. He was going to the Atlantic to drown himself.

However, his anguished family believes that Gregory may have found
his way to Providence -- a city he has loved since he toured the Brown
University campus as a teenager.

"He always said he'd like to live in Providence," said his father, Peter Hillman.

Hillman called The Providence Journal on Thursday afternoon, on the
chance that someone in Rhode Island may spot his son and help save his
life. He's been missing since Tuesday morning. Gregory has bipolar
disorder and has been hospitalized off and on for his illness over the
last few years, his father said.

"He's a gentle soul. He's no threat to anyone but himself," said Peter Hillman.

After leaving the note and sending the e-mails during the wee hours
on Monday, Gregory escaped from Gould Farm, a psychiatric facility in
Monterey, Mass. He was found a mile away, his father said.

Gregory was taken first to Berkshire Medical Center, in Pittsfield,
Mass., and then was being transferred by ambulance to North Adams
Regional Hospital, which has 24-hour supervision for those with mental
illness. When the ambulance pulled up to the hospital, Gregory got out
and ran, his father said.

The police in North Adams, Mass., searched for him and a police dog
was able to track his sent into the woods, Peter Hillman said. But the
trail ended at a main road, Hillman said. He had just $40 in his
pockets and no ID or credit cards, Hillman said. They believe he may be
hitching rides, on his way to end his life.

All the police and his family have are his suicide notes and two
maps that Gregory printed out. One shows the New Haven, Conn., area --
the Hillman family is from Darien, Conn., and North Pownal, Vt.

The other map shows Providence. Gregory left the maps but took the directions with him, Peter Hillman said.

The young man's interest in Providence began when he was a high
school student, and his father took him to look at Brown University.

"We came to Providence just one time," Peter Hillman said. "He absolutely fell in love with Providence and Brown."

Gregory ended up going to Reed College in Portland, Ore., with the
goal of becoming an architect, Peter Hillman said. But after his
freshman year, Gregory's mental illness asserted itself. He never
returned to college.

Gregory Hillman is 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 165 pounds, and has
blue eyes, brown hair, and a medium beard. His father said that Gregory
also has a large scar on his forehead. He was last seen wearing a brown
and maroon horizontal striped sweatshirt and gold sweatpants. Anyone
who sees Gregory or has information about him is asked to call their
local police department or the North Adams Police Department, (413)
664-4944.

In his note and e-mails, Gregory talked about getting to the water. His father said he knows what his troubled son was thinking.

"He said he wanted to take his life in a way that wouldn't hurt anybody," Peter Hillman said.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The body of a male was
found in the Hoosic River in the vicinity of Braytonville Elementary
School on State Road (Route 2) on Wednesday morning, police said.
City Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco said police
received word of the body in the river around 10 a.m., and that it
appeared to be that of a white male. Police have not commented on the
identity of the body until an autopsy can be performed by a coroner.
Dr. Benjamin Glick, a state associate medical examiner, ordered the
body transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Holyoke
for an autopsy Thursday. Police would not comment whether they suspect the body is that
of 21-year-old Gregory Hillman, who fled an ambulance in front of North
Adams Regional Hospital at the end of June. Morocco said there was no
way of telling if the body was anything other than a white male because
it had been in the water for a while.
Hillman was being transferred from Berkshire Medical Center in
Pittsfield to be treated for mental health issues. Police issued a
public alert for help in locating him, concerned he may be a danger to
himself and may be looking for a body of water.
Hillman, who has family living in North Pownal, Vt., was last
seen wearing gold sweat pants, a gray and purple stripped hooded sweat
shirt and brown shoes. Anyone who believes they have seen Hillman is
encouraged to call the North Adams Police at 413-664-4945.

:.0 :( :.0

"A message from our hearts to yours- It pains our family to break this news. You all have been so helpful, loving, and dedicated. We just learned from the Massachusetts authorities that an autopsy done today of a body found Wednesday in the Hoosic River in North Adams established that the deceased is our beautiful brother, son, friend—Gregory. *** We will now turn to establishing a mourning site. Before doing so, we thank each and every one of you from the depths of our hearts for your heartfelt expressions of love and concern. They were, are, and will continue to be of great solace.

...."

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123173877836

:( :( :( :(

Susmihara wrote:

"A message from our hearts to yours- It pains our family to break this news. You all have been so helpful, loving, and dedicated. We just learned from the Massachusetts authorities that an autopsy done today of a body found Wednesday in the Hoosic River in North Adams established that the deceased is our beautiful brother, son, friend—Gregory. *** We will now turn to establishing a mourning site. Before doing so, we thank each and every one of you from the depths of our hearts for your heartfelt expressions of love and concern. They were, are, and will continue to be of great solace.

...."

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123173877836

:( :( :( :(

How Sad. I was hoping that the body they found was not him. May he RIP. The only way he could get rid of the demons in his head was to do this. I wish someone could have helped him before he did this. My heart breaks for their family.

Tears, I was so sad yesterday, crying and crying as yesterday was not a good day for my son -- he was having a manic episode as I found out he didn't take his morning meds the day before and other things were off with his routine -- in times like yesterday, it is but for the grace of God, go I... I could, any day, be where the Hillman family is right at this moment and that is most frightening. I hope too that Gregory's family some day will take comfort that Gregory's demons are finally at peace. I wish that mental health, insurance and legal authorities would find a better way to treat our mentally ill and provide more support, proper treatement, etc. Sometimes care givers just don't know what else they can do to help loved ones that are suffering so..... :( :(

Susmihara wrote:Tears, I was so sad yesterday, crying and crying as yesterday was not a good day for my son -- he was having a manic episode as I found out he didn't take his morning meds the day before and other things were off with his routine -- in times like yesterday, it is but for the grace of God, go I... I could, any day, be where the Hillman family is right at this moment and that is most frightening. I hope too that Gregory's family some day will take comfort that Gregory's demons are finally at peace. I wish that mental health, insurance and legal authorities would find a better way to treat our mentally ill and provide more support, proper treatement, etc. Sometimes care givers just don't know what else they can do to help loved ones that are suffering so..... :( :(

Susan Im so sorry that your son had a bad day. Do you know why he doesnt take his meds? Is it because he thinks he would feel better without them? That's one thing I could never understand with my dad. You are a great mom, and I feel for what you are going thru. God doesnt give us more than we can handle. I will keep you in my prayers also so that you never have to experience what the Hillmans are going thru. Truly a sad situation. I know that you are suffering watching your son go thru this, but Im glad that at least he has you for support.