Mother issues plea for help in locating missing son

Nine days after a 22-year-old man who suffers from several mental disorders disappeared from a group home in Glendale, his mother said he could be a danger to himself and to others. She is desperate to locate him, she said.

Tyler Henson, 22, walked barefoot out of the home in the 1800 block of Vassar Avenue shortly after 5 a.m. on Nov. 9 following a confrontation with a staff member over food, his mother, Marcia Salazar, said.

Henson, five feet 10 inches tall and 320 pounds, was last seen near the intersection of Vassar Avenue and Brand Boulevard wearing blue cut-off pants and a blue shirt.

“I’ve been crying every day,” Salazar said. “It has been very frantic.”

Henson, who has lived in group homes since he was 14, suffers from mild mental retardation, bipolar disorder, intermittent explosive disorder and schizoaffective disorder, Salazar said. Some of his behavioral triggers include denying him food and staring at him, she added.

“He hasn’t had medication for nine days,” Salazar said. “He cannot be without medication. There has been no trace of him at all.”

Henson had recently been relocated to the Glendale site from a group home in Los Angeles and is unfamiliar with the area, Salazar said. He has gone missing before, but never for more than one hour, she said.

Glendale Police Department officials have reached out to all Southern California transportation providers, hospitals and mental health facilities, spokesman Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

“We have been unsuccessful in obtaining any information on his whereabouts,” Lorenz said.

Henson was graduated from Tobinworld, a Glendale-based special education school, in June. Administrative coordinator Ray Hairapatian said that his former student could be serene one minute and furious the next.

“If someone thinks they see him, they should contact the police ASAP,” Hairapatian said. “He is over 300 pounds and stronger than an ox.”

Officials and family members said they are hoping Henson will catch someone’s attention and prompt a call to the police.

“It may be the only way that we are going to find this individual,” Lorenz said. “It is going to hinge on people paying attention to an individual on the street and calling it in.”

Twitter: @megankoneil