Psychologist who left Arkansas hospital with patient questioned by police day of disappearance

The Arkansas psychologist wanted for leaving Little Rock-based Arkansas State Hospital with a psychiatric patient March 20 is still on the run.

Court documents reveal police questioned the psychologist, 41-year-old Michelle Messer, about contraband found on 46-year-old Cory Chapin, the missing patient, the day of their unauthorized departure from the facility, according to court documents cited by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Ms. Messer on March 20 spoke to Perry Wyse, police chief of the State Hospital Police Department, about a cellphone and vaping machine found in Mr. Chapin's possession. She denied any knowledge of the contraband. The police chief told Ms. Messer to avoid any contact with Mr. Chapin and wait in her office until her supervisor got to work, according to an affidavit from Mr. Wyse.

Instead, Ms. Messer went to the unit where Mr. Chapin was being held and escorted him out of the hospital through a back door, according to the court documents. Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Ms. Messer March 21. She is wanted on a misdemeanor charge of aiding in an unauthorized departure.

Mr. Chapin became a patient at Arkansas State Hospital's forensic unit in December 2015 after a court acquitted him of numerous charges — including kidnapping and theft — by reason of mental illness.

The relationship between Mr. Chapin and Ms. Messer is not clear. The affidavit said Mr. Chapin's unauthorized release from the hospital poses a "great concern for the community safety and the safety of Michelle Messer," according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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