Missing SLO County man who left suicide note found safe, sheriff says
This article mentions suicide and may be troubling for some readers. Please read with care.
An Oceano man who went missing Wednesday after leaving a suicide note in his home was found safe Friday, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Joseph Cox was found safe in Visalia, the release said. He was last seen driving a gold 2008 Chevy Malibu LTZ onto Oak Park Boulevard near Grand Avenue in Grover Beach, heading toward Highway 101.
According to a Facebook post from his wife, Linda Cox, he called her around 10 a.m. Friday. She said she cannot give more information at this time.
Joseph Cox had previously attempted suicide on March 31, 2021, his wife said. He was doing better, but an incident on the anniversary of the attempt this year triggered a rapid decline in his mental health. Linda Cox said she ried to get him help ever since, but resources for mental health crises in San Luis Obispo County are lacking.
“There’s no place here for help,” Linda Cox told the Tribune. “There’s no place for somebody to go.”
No local psychiatrists take their insurance, and her husband doesn’t qualify for any county programs. She said he was seeing a telehealth therapist but needed more support.
Linda Cox has been struggling with her own mental health, too. She said has been working through PTSD ever since her husband’s first suicide attempt, and has been trying to navigate finding support for both her husband and herself — a feat that is difficult and stress-inducing in and of itself with little resources available.
On Wednesday, Linda Cox was in the midst of a mental health incident of her own and said she was texting with her husband while she was on the phone with her therapist. He was telling her to be safe and come home, but when she told him she was arriving there soon, he stopped responding.
When Linda Cox got to the house, her husband and the car were gone, and she found a suicide note he’d left in their bedroom. She said she called 911 immediately, and San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputies arrived on scene by 5:15 p.m.
“I can’t leave (my home) because I’m still holding hope that he will walk through the door. Hope is all I have,” she wrote in a Facebook post at the time.
And as of Friday morning, that hope came true.
Linda Cox thanks the community who helped support efforts to locate her husband. She said he is getting the help he needs, but had to go to a facility out of county because there is not a psychiatric hospital that can support people like her husband in SLO County, “which just causes more stress in an already stressful time.”
“The central coast needs to do a better job of providing help for those with mental illness,” she said.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 1-800-273-8255. You can also call the Central Coast Hotline at 800-783-0607 for 24-7 assistance. To learn the warning signs of suicide, visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org
This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 11:46 AM.
