This is horrific, and it shouldn’t have happened, granddaughter Kylie Bearse (pictured right) told WWNYTV . ‘The amount of anger that you feel when you hear that is just – My family, we don’t know how to explain ait. We’re just all in shock.’
A 90-year-old former Marine, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, was found dead in the backseat of a nursing home van after staff allegedly left him there for 20 hours.
Staff at Canyon Winds Assisted Living & Memory Care in Mesa, Arizona only realized that Lawrence Bearse was missing when his wife came to visit him on Thursday.
The grandfather had been taken to visit the doctor’s the previous day by a nursing home staff member, but when they returned to the facility, the employee reportedly forgot about Bearse.
He was left in the vehicle in the facility parking lot for an estimated 20 hours, while weather in Mesa, Arizona remained in the 100sF.
That employee, who has not yet been identified, has been fired, Canyon Winds confirmed in a statement.
The care home also apologized to his family and promised a full investigation into the incident.
‘Canyon Winds was shocked and appalled to learn of this tragedy,’ the facility said in a statement to Law & Crime. ‘This incident will not be forgotten. We sincerely apologize to the family and friends of Mr. Bearse, and while we know there is no way to rectify this situation, we hope that we can find a way to help alleviate their pain moving forward.’
Granddaughter Kylie Bearse was heartbroken to receive the call from her father about her grandfather’s death.
‘He said Grampy passed away, and it’s immediately sad,’ she told WWNYTV. ‘But then, he goes, ‘”It gets worse,”‘ Kylie said. ‘They didn’t realize he was missing until my grandma showed up to visit him.’
Staff at Canyon Winds Assisted Living & Memory Care in Mesa, Arizona only realized that Lawrence Bearse was missing when his wife came to visit him on Thursday
Bearse, who suffered from advanced Alzheimer’s, had been a resident of Canyon Winds (pictured above) since June of 2020
Staff at Canyon Winds Assisted Living & Memory Care only noticed that Lawrence Bearse (pictured right) was missing when his wife of 67 years came to visit and he was nowhere to be found
‘This is horrific, and it shouldn’t have happened,’ granddaughter Kylie Bearse told WWNYTV. ‘The amount of anger that you feel when you hear that is just – My family, we don’t know how to explain it. We’re just all in shock.’
Bearse suffered from advanced Alzheimer’s, and had been a resident of the assisted living home since June of 2020.
Kylie Bearse said that her family will remember their patriarch for his service as a U.S. Marine, his golf prowess and his undeniable sense of humor. While they aim to focus on these memories, rather than the horrific circumstances of his passing, they desperately want answers.
‘He lived an incredibly respectful life,’ said Bearse. ‘He should be able to die with some sort of dignity and not being forgotten in the back of a van. So, we’re very upset, very angry, and we have questions, too, like how could this happen?’
Both police and Arizona’s health department are currently investigating the incident.
According to the National Council on Aging, one in ten Americans over 60 years old have experienced some form of elder abuse, and in the high range of estimates, five million elderly people are abused each year.
Neither the Mesa Police Department nor corporate representatives from Canyon Winds could be reached for comment, or to determine whether any charges have been filed.
