The story we reported earlier this week told of Shechinah Carter's search for her mentally ill brother, her frustration with the police investigation and her utter disbelief at the perceived negligence of the group home where Shalom lives.

It ended happily yesterday, when Shechinah and her family heard that her brother, Shalom Carter, missing since July 5, was alive and well in a suburban Cook County mental health facility.

“God is good,” says Shechinah, who was canvassing Chicago’s South Side with fliers bearing her brother’s face and contacting area media organizations before she heard her brother was safe.

Shalom, 32, lived at the Bridging the Gap group home in Englewood. Shechinah says the family was not notified of his disappearance by the group home until July 11. Shalom suffers from bipolar disorder, and the family was worried about what might happen to him if he didn’t take his medication.

Shechinah says Shalom took off from his South Side home sometime on July 5. He eventually walked about 13 miles west of the city. Thirsty, he went to a bar and asked for water. Then, she says, police were summoned and arrested him. She’s not sure why.

The police took him to a mental health facility – last night Shechinah was not sure of the name – and a nurse who had seen a Chicago police missing person flier recognized Shalom, bringing the family’s frantic search to an end.

From there, it took an amazing coincidence to reunite Shalom and his family.

Shechinah's mother remarried last year, and changed her last name to Love. Her neighbors, who live across the street, are also named Love.

The nurse who recognized Shalom somehow found the neighbor's phone number. She called, believing them to be the same Loves looking for Shalom.

The neighbors, in turn, notified Shechinah and her family.

The family is still not sure why Shalom disappeared. He had been assaulted several times recently, and told friends he was thinking of returning to California, from where he moved in 2008. A resident of the home said he had been acting strangely recently, and using drugs. He had stopped going to group therapy and was taking his medication sporadically.

Shechinah says the family doesn't plan on bringing Shalom back to Bridging the Gap.  She says several personal items, including cologne and a bottle of wine, were removed from his bedroom.

She still wants to know why it took nearly a week for representatives from Bridging the Gap to tell the family Shalom was missing.

“What I’m trying to do right now is just focus on the blessing itself that he is alive and unharmed,” Shechinah says. “The issue still remains that no one that worked at that facility notified my family for six days.”

Shechinah says she is also still agitated with the response from the Chicago Police Department. Shechinah says they never met with the detective working the case.

However, a police spokeswoman says the detective was working the case in line with department protocol, conducting interviews, releasing Shalom’s image and giving the family fliers.

My attempts to reach officials with Bridging the Gap were unsuccessful for a second day.

Tuesday, three phone numbers for the group’s three locations were disconnected. An email I sent to an address listed on the Web site bounced back, and an email sent to one of its directors went unanswered. No house supervisors were on site when I visited Shalom’s home Tuesday night.

Yesterday, the three phone numbers no longer appeared on the site. An 800 number, also listed as the organization’s fax number, directs callers to a voicemail registered in Orange County, Calif. Calls to one of the director’s of Shalom’s home, located at 6746 S. Wolcott, were not returned.

In our efforts to reach out to Bridging the Gap, we found the organization’s state articles of incorporation were dissolved in 2008, a year after it was incorporated.

A number of questions remain:

• What standards exist for running a group home like this? It seems odd that an organization charged with helping the mentally ill get their lives on track would fail to notify the family of Shalom's disappearance.
• Did Shalom's home meet those standards? Are they licensed? The dissolution of the organization's state business license isn't that out-of-the ordinary - they evidently forgot to submit an annual report - but it raises questions about what other licenses may be required.
• Why didn't group home staff advise the family that Shalom had disappeared?
• Did the cops do everything they could to bring Shalom home safely?

We're working to find the answers. Let us know if you can shed some light.