Early Wednesday morning the peace and quiet of the neighborhood near the Blue Hill ball park was disturbed by loud noises, yelling, dogs barking, banging. Officers from the Webster County Sherrifs department arrived, responding to a call from Terry Drury about a naked man at the front door of his house pounding and yelling and demanding to be let in. The naked man's efforts to enter the Drury home resulted in damage to the front door.
Neighbors more than a block away heard the disburbance.
The officers from the Sherrif's department returned the disturbing individual to his residence at the Life Quest at Bella Amis facility on the main street of Blue Hill.
A little more than a year ago the Drury family's peace and quiet was disturbed when a dead body was found on their property, later identified to be Sidney Troxel, a U.S. navy veteran and resident of Life Quest who had been missing for over nine months.
When the body was found forsensic units from the Nebraska State Patrol were called in and set up flood lights as they searched the area looking for evidence. It was determined that Sidney Troxel died of "natural causes" after having wandered away from the facility where he had been living. An initial search for him was futile and his remains were not found until some youngsters in the area found them near a fence line while playing.
The Drury home is about five blocks directly north of Life Quest at Bella Amis.
20 comments:
News release from the Nebraska State Patrol.
Skeletal remains found in Blue Hill on Tuesday March 2, 2010 have been identified as missing Blue Hill resident Sydney Troxel. Troxel was 65 when the assisted living center where he was residing reported him missing to the Webster County Sheriff's department on May 9, 2009. Sheriff's department personell conducted a search of the surrounding area before entering Troxel's name in the Nebraska Missing Persons clearinghouse and a national law enforcement data base. Foul play has not been indicated by the investigation. The identification of the deceased was made through forensic pathology and dental examinations.
What’s new??? It’s Blue Hill!! You can’t say anything bad about the way Life Quest handles there patients (residents) or you will be labeled a “Handicap hater”, And don’t dare mention the need for Law Enforcement or the assistant fire chief will flip off your wife and kids as they drive through town. Good luck Blue Hill, You’re going to need it.
Just another small bit of information for you. Recently a young high school girl went home after school to find a man from Life Quest at her home, when she got out of her car to go in the house the man approached and tried to grab her. She got back into her car and left quickly. As she drove around the block the man entered the fenced in back yard of her home and began looking into the windows. The young girl called her mother and stepfather at work, (who then called the Mayor)she was afraid to go back home. A few days later the same young girl went to the post office on main street Blue Hill on a Sunday morning, while she was in the post office the same man entered and grabbed her around the throat, she gave him an elbow to the face and ran out the door. Fearing that getting back into her car might give the man enough time to grab her again she ran west down the street leaving her car behind. Since it was a Sunday morning no businesses on main were open. As she reached the area in front of the bank a woman she knew came driving down the street, she flagged her down and asked for assistance. The woman helped her retrieve her car and get safely back to her mother.
The management at Life Quest tells us that there are no “registered sex offenders” at Life Quest. This may or may not be true. The fact is that to become a registered sex offender the person must be prosecuted by law. In the case of many of the residents of Life Quest they get out of prosecution due to there mental condition. This does not make them any less of a sex offender; it only makes them a sex offender that has gotten away with it, thus more likely to repeat.
To come to someone’s home butt naked pounding on the door trying to get in is a sex offense. To grab a young girl in the post office and try to take advantage of her is a sex offence. Life Quest HAS MANY SEX OFFENDERS.
Now if any of you happen to see the Mayor driving down the street and you wave at her, don’t be offended if she does not wave back. She is too busy sitting on her hands. She may tell you that there is nothing that the City can do but the fact is there is nothing that the City will do. One man has died because of Life Quest, how many more will have to go before something is done?
I personally think that Life Quest has done its best for what they have to work with! Mentally Ill people have rights and it is very hard when you have to uphold them at all times or be in trouble with the Advocacy groups for not. What happens in a community is not alway right and we have to remember, anyone can do the same thing, they just do not have to happen to be living at Life Quest. Many of the residents help people in this community with different jobs and all. Why must all the of the residents be lables and thought of as being "bad" or sex offenders. Get a brain first and then maybe you will get a heart too!
Im not sure how if many people have stopped to take the time and think about this, but isnt it possible that the resident that was pounding on the door naked could have had a psychotic break. Also, if a girl was attacked by someone from lifequest, why was it just reported and why to the mayor? Why wouldnt they have immediatly called the police? The story is full of holes. But besides that, as far as Im aware, lifequest does not accept sex offenders as residents. Yes, they can look menacing or scary, but none of them are sex offenders. If you dont actually know someone then you have no right to assume the worst from them.
"as far as I'm aware, life Quest does not accept sex offenders as residents"
Do you have access to these residents records? What is your level of awareness? We know for a fact that Life Quest has had a REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER, who "fell through the cracks" there. They felt it was wrong when he was forced to leave and go to another facility.
All sex offenders do not appear on the Registry. Is running through the streets naked a sex offense?
No one doubts that there are many good people who are residents, but anyone who is there as a resident does need some special supervision, each individual is indeed an individual and as such their weekness and strengths differ. But those that are not getting the help and supervison may pose a threat to themselves, their fellow residents or to the citizens of Blue Hill.
We don't want to or consider ourselves qualified to judge these people or any others but we can judge their actions. We do know what happened was wrong and dangerous. We do as a community need to take action to prevent such action from happening and to protect the citizens of the community. ALL the citizens of the community.
The residents of Life Quest are not really the ones to blame. The ones that are to blame are the people that are responsible for the care of them. Your right maybe the person did have a mental breakdown. Maybe if he wasn’t sent to Blue Hill, far away from anything or anyone he has ever known, he would not have had such a break down. Maybe if he had gotten his proper medication. The fact is that more people from there will have problems in the future because no one cares.
If any of you really cared you would try to help get them out of Blue Hill and into a better equipped facility. Don’t try to blame them try to help them. The care at Life Quest is very substandard and no one should have to be there. The fact is that Life Quest is one of the largest mental health facilities in the state. (The one in Palmer Ne. is larger, it is owned by the same person and managed just as poorly) All the other facilities that I have found are on a campus. That is they have a large area and several buildings to help provide better for the needs of their patients. Unlike Blue Hill were they are confined to a building or left to roam with nothing to do.
Where as they have had a sex offender once, it does not mean that "many of them are." Its understandable that many citizens are worried and scared, but its rare for something like this to happen. I agree that it shouldnt have happened, but I also think that unless you know all the facts of what actually happened then you shouldnt judge them or their actions. As far as anyone knows the single resident that did that had a complete mental break and his mental illness kicked into overdrive. If your going to judge someone for doing something that they couldnt control then you shouldnt judge them at. What everyone fails to see is that everyone is mentally ill to some extent. The residents of lifequest are worse off then others, but thats not their fault. As far as Im concerned, it could have been anyone at that house, it just happened to be a very menatally ill person who couldnt control his actions.
So if i kill a family of five, while driving drunk, then its not my fault, it was the alcohol. The fourth post says that we should treat them the same as anyone else, I agree. You should hall their ass to jail just like anyone else. Treat them just like anyone else, they are responsible for the way they act, or put them in a facitly that will monitor and aid them in their daily needs, NOT Life Quest.
No one has mentioned that the place he was found naked is 100 yards from the fields & parks the kids start to play at this time of year. Sounds to me like this place needs new management. Can anyone tell me what benefit there is to The City of Blue Hill to keep them around.
The man in question is a very sweet and kind man who has always been pleasant and respectful. He suffered a mental break and could not control his actions. Suffering from a mental illness is NOT something that anyone can control or is aware of when they have a psychotic break. Its sad that the community would blame the people of Life Quest for the events that occurred. I for one know for sure that the staff work there asses to the bone each and every day, because i have had the privilege to know them and speak to them when i see them. They all are dedicated to helping the residents at the facility and are very pleasant people. So i expect you to show the residents and staff at Life Quest some well deserved decency and respect. The staff works day in and day out 24/7 around the clock and i fore one dont see all of you stepping up and helping them out. If the staff of Life Quest were to see all of these nasty comments, im sure that it would devastate them. So i think it would be in your best interest to show them the respect they deserve and to forgive the events of that night, due to the fact that the particular resident was not in his right mind and the fact that the staff who went out to retrieve the resident, were awoken and on the scene as fast as humanly possible. Its things like this that are unavoidable, that give Life Quest a bad name. When in fact, they are all good people. So unless you are going to stand up and offer your support, dont meddle in things that are of no concern to you. Thank you.
So unless you are going to stand up and offer your support, dont meddle in things that are of no concern to you. Thank you.
I just wanted to show you the comment that you made, so you can see just how stupid it is. I am concerned for my safety and the safety of my community. I do support the people who should not be here but are forced here by a screwed up government, and money hungry management of life quest. Or mismanagement
Maybe a question we could be asking is, how do we, as a community, work to be of benefit to our neighbors, no matter what address they live at and no matter which challenges they face?
It would be nice to see our community come together in a positive way to impact our city for the better without outcasting individuals.
I agree. Why should we assume that the management is bad or that all the resisdents are bad just because of the actions of a few of them? Most of them are good people and are involved in the community just as much as the rest of us. I think we need to learn to be more accepting and tolerant of others, no matter how different.
Attitudes of acceptance and tolerance might have a better chance of existing if there were more accountability! It is a fact that some of the citizens in our community have been concerned for their safety. They have every right to be concerned for their safety and their rights need to be respected. One can understand and empathize with the challenges faced by the residents of LifeQuest, but some of the things that have happened are inexcusable. As for the employees, I'm sure they work hard, but it's questionable how hard they work at keeping track of the residents when they are wandering around the community. Furthermore, just because someone works hard doesn't mean they're doing a great job. With summer just around the corner, how many parents will be nervous about letting their kids ride their bikes to the swimming pool for fear they might encounter someone experiencing a complication of their mental illness, etc? Where's the heart for the safety of the kids who will be out of school soon? People have every right to be worried about the actions of a few, and that doesn't mean that they are intolerant, stupid, heartless, or passing judgment on every LifeQuest resident or employee. It means they care about safety. The respect and safety of the all citizens of Blue Hill should be a priority - whether they reside at LifeQuest or not.
On January 5th, a Millard South student shot two, killing one, them himself at school in Omaha. On January 8th, another lone gunman shot and killed six, wounding countless others in Tucson. A few years ago a man in Hastings was murdered in his bed by a mentally deranged individual.
The problem of Mental Health is not confined to Blue Hill, Nebraska. But it is foolish to believe that with one of the largest mental Health facilities in the state, and the second largest per-capita (with Palmer being the largest)by a huge percentage that there are not
going to be problems!
Experts have identified a link between mental health and violence.
Random acts of violence are carried out by mentally ill individuals who have fallen through the cracks. It is time to start looking at ways to eliminate those cracks. With the limitation on services available to residents in Rural Nebraska many are destined to fall through the cracks if nothing is done to prevent it.
Nebraska has been looking at decreasing the mental health services since the closing of the regional center. AS services are decreased chances for another violent occurance are rising.
It's a trend being seen nationwide. As budgets get tight, mental health services, often costly, are one of the first things to go. It has been noted nationwide that when services are decreased acts of violence increase.
Access to mental health care is extremely limited in rural Nebraska, in a region where residents might need care the most.
Knowing that the population of Blue Hill has a much higher per-capita ratio of mentally ill individuals than other areas of Nebraska it should follow that Blue Hill has a larger need for officials to handle the violence that is almost sure to follow, if the numbers are to be believed. But instead we have almost no one who can respond quickly should/when the need arises.
Psychologist Jeromy Warner said central Nebraska had a high amount of mental health issues in part because of what once was the Hastings Regional Center.
Lawmakers are facing some big problems in finding ways to cut costs but by not funding mental health will not save money in the long run. The state may save from their budget but the tax payers will pay more on the local level. The burden is being shifted from large metropolitan areas to tiny little towns like Blue Hill and Palmer, with so many fewer people to share the tax aburden that providing services for these mentally ill involves.
And the mentally ill can not be served properly in an area so limited in services that could provide activities to occupy the time of individuals who have need to find purpose in life.
Most of us who live in Blue Hill make frequent trips to Lincoln to football games or Omaha to the Zoo or ball games or shopping or Hastings to Movies, Museum, ball games, out to eat, shopping, to spend time at the Y, participate in organized sports and numerous other activities that are not available in Blue Hill. For those with no mode of transportation, who can not make the decision to occasionally leave town there are no such diversions.
It seems to me it should be hard not to see the problem here.
Can anyone explain to me why the naked man was returned to Life Quest after this incident? Why didn’t authorities take him to jail? Or why didn’t they take him to Mary Lanning for a mental health evaluation? How can any of us living in Blue Hill rest peacefully at night knowing that this man still is free to run loose in our town? It is time that we all load our shotguns and prepare to defend ourselves. We can hope that we are not forced to but this will happen again, unless things change.
Next time he may get in a home, and during a complete mental breakdown what will he do??
If we are not going to be protected by the Sheriff or the staff at Life Quest then we can we better be prepared to defend ourselves.
SEX OFFENDERS That’s right Life Quest has unregistered sex offenders. If one is deemed to be mentally incompetent then one doesn’t get prosecuted. if you don’t get prosecuted but have commited a sex crime you are an unregistered sex offender. This does not mean that the offender didn't do it, that he/she is not a sex offender, it only means that they got away with it. It could mean that the perpetrator of the crime was not capable of knowing that it was wrong!!! Is that not scarey?
A sex offender may have been out running about town, peeping in windows, naked. They may be stalking other people, they can meet the defination of being a sex offender without actually committing rape. But these less violent acts can and often do lead to the more violent acts and those that engage in such activities need special supervision. It is dangerous to have a naked deranged individual running around town unsupervised. Why is that so hard to admit?? What is especially scarey, is that there are those that don't believe there is a problem. Therefore no "fix" is needed.
FYI
I know for a FACT..The person was taken to Mary Lanning that morning. If you don't know the facts don't judge,assume or point fingers. It always amazes me when I read these blogs how much you people know about what happens inside LifeQuest and how it is run. I would bet the ones writing the negative nasty blogs have never darkened the doorstep. It is so easy to write negative and cruel comments when you can remain anonymous. Stop in LifeQuest sometime and visit I guarantee.. it will change your thinking about the place,how it is run and the people that live there.
The town of Blue Hill is so small you could pass through it in the blink of an eye. But some strange things have happened in this town of 800. Things you would expect to see in the big city. And that has some concerned.
On Gage Street, you'll find the local beauty parlor, tavern, library... Oh, and then there's the mental health center.
"I tend to lock my house more now than I did ten years ago before they were here," said Todd Kranau.
Life Quest at Bella Amis serves 42 men and women. Last week, one of those residents was found naked pounding on the door of a nearby house, demanding to be let in.
A little over a year ago, a dead body was found on property owned by the same family.
Investigators later learned the body belonged to a man who wandered away from the center.
"I feel it needs to be policed a little better and ran a little better, so you don't have things like this happening," said Jake Tenhoff.
Life Quest administrator Laura Downing refused to speak on camera, but told News 5 over the phone that state law prohibits the center from locking its doors. Residents must be allowed to roam freely.
"They're very nice people," said Judy Carlson.
Waitress Judy Carlson said Life Quest residents frequent the café where she works.
"They're very well behaved and sometimes they get a little money short here and there and I take my tips and pay it for them," said Carlson.
"There's not a lot of places for them people to go and if the town can provide for them I think it's a good opportunity to give them help with what they need," said Tami Bright.
Todd Kranau of Blue Hill agrees, but said the residents should do more activities and less walking around.
"Some kind of structured system to keep them entertained. Maybe have some different groups come in and help them with activities art or pottery," said Kranau.
Life Quest administrators said they offer daily activities, but they can't force participation. Just like they can't force residents to say inside.
In response to last week's incident, Life Quest administrators plan to install new alarms at the center. But they do not plan on increasing staff.
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