Missing woman's family sues

Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2011
NewsChannel 36

SHELBY The family of a woman who has not been seen since walking away from a Cleveland County nursing facility 2 1/2 years ago are suing the man and company who operated the facility.

A judge hearing the case on Monday asked the attorney representing the family of Mouy Tang to submit a claim for pain and suffering in the case.

Tang's family, represented by attorney Neal Rodgers of Charlotte, is asking at least $750,000 in compensatory damages from Gary Jacobs and Jacob Enterprises LLC, which operated Unique Living in Lawndale.

That center was closed by state officials a week after Tang disappeared, on Sept. 3, 2008.

Family of missing woman seeking damages in court

April 11, 2011
by TONY BURBECK / NewsChannel 36

SHELBY, N.C. -- The family of a missing Cleveland County woman wants at least $750,000 in compensatory damages.

A judge hearing the case Monday said the family is entitled to pain and suffering as well, but that judge did not rule or award dollar amounts.

Mouy Tang had a hard life. She was a refugee from Cambodia who escaped violence and starvation along with her brother Tong.

"We all miss Mouy very much,” he said.

Mouy Tang: Nearly 20 searches and no lead

Mouy Tang was last seen Sept. 3.

Saturday, Jan 31 2009
David Allen
The Star (Shelby, Cleveland County, North Carolina, USA)

LAWNDALE - After 18 searches, Quyhn Tang now believes her missing sister-in-law isn't where family members originally thought.

"We believe that yes, she was picked up," Tang said Thursday. "She had to (have been)."

Mouy Tang, a 46-year-old native of Cambodia and former Unique Living resident, was last seen Sept. 3 near Burns High School in Lawndale. Subsequent searches haven't unearthed a single lead.

But the most recent effort did produce at least something.

"We had nurses that used to work at the Yelton facility (Unique Living) that came to talk to us," Quyhn said. "The two were very instrumental in giving information."

Quyhn was told that officials drove out to search for Mouy around 15 minutes after they realized she was gone.

Quyhn said that while Mouy couldn't walk well, she was supposedly long gone when employees began searching.

"Apparently they couldn't locate her," Quyhn said. "It might have taken her 30 minutes to get to that intersection (of Philadelphia Road and Stagecoach Trail where Mouy was last seen)."

The numbers just didn't add up.

"She was picked up instead of wandered off," Quyhn said.

Family members recently accepted what some professionals suggested after the last search, Quyhn said.

"We came to terms with it (that she was possibly picked up)," she said. "They did another 5-mile search. Thirty-two people from all over. Nothing."

Specifics for future searches have yet to be determined, Quyhn said. Satellite imaging will be used to scan the landscape for remains before anyone goes on the hunt again.

"If someone has any news, good or bad, we need it," Quyhn said.

[Cambodian] Woman missing from facility with history of trouble

Search continues for missing mental patient Mouy Tang

Thursday, September 4, 2008
By BETH SHAYNE
NewsChannel 36 (WCNC, North Carolina, USA)

FALLSTON, N.C.-- Crews in Cleveland County are searching for a patient of an assisted living facility, missing since Wednesday morning.

The State Bureau of Investigation joined the search Wednesday. Mouy Tang was last seen at Unique Living in Fallston before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. She was spotted walking near the Philadelphia Road home later in the morning, and hasn’t been seen since.

A helicopter search turned up nothing Wednesday. Crews on ATVs and on foot searched Thursday. Cadaver dogs also joined in late in the day.

Tang is 45 and a native of Cambodia. She is diabetic and hasn’t had medicine since Wednesday morning. It’s feared she hasn’t eaten. She is also schizophrenic. Her English is poor at best.

She’s lived at Unique Living for at least 15 years, and we’re told she has help even navigating the dining room there.

For search crews from Cleveland County, the task of finding Tang must feel like déjà vu. Unique Living has a history of missing patients. One incident turned tragic. In 2006, Kelly “Buck” Whitesides was found dead six days after he went missing from the assisted living facility.

The county’s social services director John Wasson blames the way the home is licensed. Mentally ill patients like Tang make up most of the residents but Unique Living is technically an assisted living facility.

“Basically, you have an unlicensed mental hospital in the middle of Fallston, North Carolina,” Wasson said.

After years of incidents, including two other accidental deaths, Wasson wrote the state in a letter dated June 20, 2008. He asked that the state regulatory board suspend admissions for Unique Living while they put a Temporary Manager in charge.

The letter cites a long list of complaints against Unique Living, including charges of verbal abuse from staff, a lack of locks, and a water shut-off that left the facility without water for hours on several occasions.

New management, the letter says, is not solving the problem.

It says, “Given past history, it is only a matter of time before a resident or residents are injured or harmed in some way as a direct result of the apparent mismanagement of this troubled facility.”

Wasson says, “Basically, they’ve ignored our letter…and I feel the [state agency] has defaulted on its responsibility.”

Officials from the state visited in July. Their report notes dirty mattresses and pillows, and broken or non-existence alarms on exit doors. Their acting director of Health Service Regulation tells NewsChannel 36 that the problems did not rise to the level that would warrant a state takeover.