Mother's desperate search for at-risk daughter after hospital admission

Eric Mock
·2 min read
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DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - The parents of 31-year-old Jazmin Villanueva are asking for help in finding her.

Villanueva was recently admitted to Grady Memorial Hospital after being found on the streets naked. Her mother, Kristalynn Griffin, says her daughter is at risk due to having a history of mental illness. Griffin just wants to know that her daughter is safe.

"I’m very worried," said Griffin.

The DeKalb County Police Department Special Victims Unit is investigating her disappearance after her mother reported her missing on May 1.

"I can't focus on what I got to do with my life because I'm so worried," said Griffin.

Griffin says after Villanueva got out of jail in Florida last year, she was supposed to come home to her in Virginia. Instead, she got a call from her daughter at the DeKalb County Jail in February.

"If she was in the jail, she would call me after she sobers up," Griffin said.

Her mother says her daughter has struggled with severe bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. She also has a history of substance abuse and is not a stranger to a jail cell, having been arrested numerous times, with her latest release being on Feb. 23.

A few months later, she ended up in the hospital. Griffin shared those records with FOX 5, which indicate Villanueva was found sleeping outside a school naked and was picked up by paramedics at the end of April.

Griffin had hoped she could connect with her daughter through the hospital, but the staff there did not directly contact her.

"I don't understand why the hospital staff couldn't call the number that's on her MyChart. If they did that, then I could have reached out to her father…And he could have picked her up. We could have put her into a hospital or something," Griffin said.

The worry now is that if Villanueva continues in that state, something terrible could happen to her.

"I don't want anything to happen to her," Griffin said.

She is hoping someone sees her daughter’s photos and can contact the DeKalb County Police Department.