Posted 8/5/10
By Doug Oakley
Berkeley police are asking the public's help in finding a missing woman who is developmentally disabled and uses a wheelchair.
Heather Bloom, 33, has brown hair, blue eyes, is about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 140 pounds, police said Thursday.
Berkeley police said Bloom's mother, Phyllis Bloom of Brooklyn, N.Y., called them over a year ago and told them she had not been able to contact her daughter or Heather Bloom's care giver, who is also a daughter, since 2005.
In 2005, Berkeley police were called to an apartment at Carleton and California streets to mediate an argument between Phyllis Bloom and her caregiver daughter. Heather Bloom was present at the time and the argument was more or less resolved, said Berkeley Police Spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss.
That was the last time Berkeley police and Phyllis Bloom saw Heather Bloom. Authorities said foul play is not suspected in this case.
"We have no reason to believe Heather Bloom is injured or deceased," Kusmiss said.
Police in March spoke with Heather Bloom's care giver who told police she was fine, but refused to let police see Bloom or enter her home, Kusmiss said.
"We don't have the legal framework to force ourselves inside because we don't have probable cause of danger or neglect," Kusmiss said. "We're hoping the someone has seen her or a care facility or group home will share that information with us." Federal health privacy laws prohibit hospitals or care facilities from telling police if Bloom is a patient or client, Kusmiss said.
Kusmiss said investigators have checked coroners offices and searched death certificates but have not found any trace of Heather Bloom.
"Because there is such an estranged relationship between the mother and her daughter, that has made the case difficult," Kusmiss said.
"But we need to see Heather Bloom. We are required to see the person physically to close the case."
Anyone with information about Heather Bloom can call Berkeley police detectives at 510-981-5741.
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