Police Search for Missing Schizophrenic

Police scoured the neighborhood around a Panorama City school Saturday in search of a 23-year-old retarded, schizophrenic man missing since Friday afternoon.

Willie Jonal Allen left the Vista Day Treatment Center, a school for the developmentally disabled in the 14200 block of Roscoe Boulevard, at about 3 p.m. Friday.

“We just need to find him,” said Noellie Gardose, who runs a group home in Northridge where Allen has lived for the past month.

“He is without his medication,” she said. “It is very important for him to have it.”

Allen takes Haldol three times a day to control his schizophrenia, in addition to medication for epilepsy, Gardose said.

After spending hours knocking on doors and beefing up patrols in the area, police late Saturday asked for the public’s help in finding Allen. Sgt. Jim Bilodeau of the Los Angeles Police Department said officers were hampered in their search because no picture of Allen was immediately available.

“Without a picture, it is truly like looking for a needle in a haystack,” said Bilodeau.

The LAPD has arranged for a police artist to render a composite drawing of the man, he said.

Allen was described as black, 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing about 135 pounds. He was wearing a light-blue shirt, faded blue jeans and white sneakers when last seen, police said.

The missing man has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old and may exhibit behavior that “could get him in trouble,” Gardose said, such as teasing people and playing hide-and-seek with them.

Gardose said Allen has no history of running away. She knows of no place he may be visiting in the Valley.

“If he gets tired, he will probably fall asleep on benches,” Gardose said. “He may be at a shopping center parking lot with lots of benches.”