THE BRONX, N.Y. — When Kervin Freytes went to smoke outside his sister’s Bronx apartment on Nov. 14, his family was concerned. They said Freytes, who has schizophrenia, didn’t know the Trinity Avenue neighborhood well enough.
Now, more than three weeks later, Kervin Freytes hasn’t come back.
Marta Cora and her 38-year-old son were only visiting the Bronx in November. The two of them had moved to Florida some years ago, after Kervin Freytes spent his childhood and young adulthood in Brooklyn.
“He’s 38, but he doesn’t act 38,” Kervin’s sister, Wendy Freytes, told PIX11 News. “He’s still a child mindset.”
Kervin Freytes’ photo is now featured on the New York State Missing Persons Clearinghouse, in the category of “vulnerable adults.” Many of the people listed with him have mental health problems, like bipolar disorder or depression. Some, like Freytes, have schizophrenia.
“I’m afraid,” his mother said. “Anything could happen to him out there.”
Cora said Freytes “starts talking a lot” when he’s having a schizophrenic episode, but is typically quiet and reserved. He stopped seeing his psychiatrist and taking medication during the pandemic.
His family and the NYPD detective on the case had been checking hospitals and morgues, trying to find out what happened.
Cora said she received a call Tuesday saying that Freytes was spotted in November. According to an NYPD detective, Freytes was admitted to a New York City hospital and gave his family’s old Brooklyn address when staff there asked where he lived.
After receiving treatment, he was released, Cora said. The family said Freytes had no identification on him when he left his sister’s home in the Bronx.
“If we do find him, which I hope he’s safe, [my mother] needs to put some kind of address on his coat,” Wendy Freytes said.
Cora told PIX11 News she hopes attention from social media and television will bring her son back to her.