Family of missing La Palma woman pleads for help to find family matriarch

LA PALMA, Calif. (KABC) -- A La Palma family is asking for the public's help in finding a 58-year-old woman last seen nearly three weeks ago.

Geetaben Patel, who is schizophrenic, has been missing for nearly 20 days. Video shows her walking out of her home in La Palma on Sept. 2 around 2:15p.m. and has not been seen since then.

A Silver Alert was issued Sept. 5 by the California Highway Patrol, listing Geetaben Patel as standing 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 120 pounds.

She was wearing a dark blue shirt and purple and white pajama pants with no shoes on.

Geetaben Patel was last seen on Santa Margarita Lane and Del Sol Circle in La Palma, according to the CHP.

Her son, Sagar Patel, told Eyewitness News these past weeks have been emotionally difficult.

"She is super hard working. Super caring. Loves everything about me and my dad. She was going to work every single day. Super hard working. They love her at her work," Sagar Patel said.

On the day of her disappearance, Sagar Patel left home to get food for his family while his father watched over her.

A minute after he left, his mother managed to walk out of their home and hasn't been seen since.

Sagar Patel says his mother left home without money, a phone or food and water.

He suspects she wasn't taking her medication the weeks leading up to her walking out and he's worried she's hiding somewhere scared.

"When she gets in that state of mind, she gets very scared. She'll usually lock herself up in a corner or a room. The day she went missing and the night before, she was locking herself up in the bathroom, so she might be in a really small corner," Sagar Patel said.

Family and friends have organized search parties with La Palma police trying to find her.

"It's extremely difficult. My dad's really struggling. They've been married for 30 something years, so he's having a really hard time," Sagar Patel said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities.