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| MICHELLE MESSER, A DHS/ASH PSYCHOLOGIST TOOK OFF WITH PATIENT/INMATE CORY CHAPIN |
Authorities launched a dragnet Wednesday for a psychologist
and patient who walked out of the Arkansas State Hospital without permission
earlier this week.
Arrests warrants were issued for Michelle Messer, 41, a
psychological examiner and Cory Chapin, 46, a
patient.
Messer was spotted on surveillance video Tuesday using her
access to the hospital’s forensic unit and walking Chapin out of the building,
police said.
Messer is wanted on a misdemeanor charge of aiding an
unauthorized departure. DHS mouthpiece Marci Manley said Messer will be fired once located.
Police referred to Messer as a psychologist, though the hospital’s website
named her as a psychological examiner for forensics.
It’s unclear what the relationship is between Messer and
Chapin. Several news sources have reported that she is a lesbian.
Chapin was acquitted in 2015 of kidnapping, theft,
unauthorized use of a vehicle and drug possession charges by reason of mental
illness or defect. He had told authorities God said to kidnap a woman who cut
his hair.
Chapin was committed to the hospital’s forensic unit, used
to assess and treat patients with mental illnesses who are accused of a crime.
A doctor said he posted as a “moderate risk” for violence without treatment.
But by February 2016, the 46-year-old had engineered an
escape. Chapin fled Arkansas after receiving a 48-hour pass to leave with his
father. He was found in Las Vegas last year and returned to the hospital in
November.
While on the run in Las Vegas, Chapin was extremely active on Facebook. Click here to view his page.
Chapin posted a lot of rambling long videos.
Here is a brief example.
Patients from the Arkansas State Hospital shed some light on the relationship between Messer and Chapin in phone calls to the Arkansas Times.
Several news outlets, including the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette, have reported that Chapin
had been provided contraband — including a cell phone and vaping device — and
that Messer, had been
questioned about it.
Chapin appears to have been making regular posts on Facebook while in the Arkansas State Hospital.
According to an affidavit from the hospital police chief,
Messer denied knowledge of the phone and vaping device. She was told not to
have contact with Chapin and instructed to go to her office. Instead she went
to a unit of the hospital where Chapin was held and opened a door for him to
leave with her when he walked by, according to the Democrat-Gazette account of
the affidavit.
Stay Tuned for updates.
