ELMONT, NY (PIX11) — The older sister of Samantha Denise Primuswho is deaf, non-verbal and autistic couldn’t believe Primus was found in cold, drenching rain on December 23rd, taken to Queens Hospital Center and then discharged in the dead of night in the early hours of Christmas Eve.
“According to the hospital, she was discharged at 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve,” the missing woman’s sister, Joanna Peck, told PIX11 News. “You mean you gave her a list of shelters to go to?”
Primus, 46, has not been seen since.
The Brooklyn native had been visiting her sister in Elmont, Long Island, prior to Christmas break, as their mother had gone to St. Lucia to visit a brother who was having surgery.
Peck said her sister made it clear on Thursday night, Dec. 22, that she wanted to return to Brooklyn. But Peck said that Primus, known as Denise, agreed to stay for another three days.
“Between us we have our own sign language,” Peck said, “and we really understand each other.”
Peck said her sister indicated she was fine with waiting a few days.
“She gave her thumbs up and smiled when I left for work,” Peck said.
But hours later, home security footage showed Primus leaving her sister’s home around 4 a.m. on Friday, December 23.
There was a howling wind outside and freezing rain on a day when hundreds of flights for holiday travelers were canceled.
Joanna Peck eventually learned that 16 hours later, someone had called an ambulance for her sister at 190th Street and Hillside Avenue in Hollis, Queens, about three and a half miles from Elmont.
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“Someone must have seen her on the floor,” Peck said. “She was on the floor.”
The ambulance took Primus to the Queens Hospital Center emergency room where she was evaluated. She reportedly told staff that her leg hurt. Staff commented that she was sloppy. Primus was reportedly given Tylenol for the leg pain.
Meanwhile, Primus’ family filed a missing persons report with the Nassau County Police Department.
A few days later, the paramedic who picked Primus up in Hollis saw a missing flyer online and notified Nassau County detectives that he took her to Queens Hospital Center on Friday, December 23.
But Primus was long gone from the hospital.
The family then learned that they had to file a new missing persons report with the NYPD, as Primus had disappeared for a second time after visiting the hospital in Queens.
“They should have been better educated,” Joanna Peck said of the people who associated with her sister. “I should say, ‘We can’t release this person. I would call the police.’”
Primus is one of 10 siblings who were born in St. Lucia and later settled in New York and Canada.
Primus has lived with her mother and brother on East 91st Street in Brooklyn for many years. As a teenager, she once disappeared and made her way to the Bronx.
This is the longest time Samantha Denise Primus has ever been away from home. Her sister feels bad that she initially disappeared from Elmont.
“My heart is breaking right now knowing she left my house,” said Joanna Peck. “I want to say to people, ‘Watch out, because she’s not the kind of person to ask for help.’”