‘He was a quiet soul’ who battled mental illness, says sister of man found in Saginaw River - MLive.com

BAY CITY, MI — Throughout his life, Brian S. Vega battled mental illness, causing him to live in adult foster care facilities in recent years. When things were going well, staff at the facilities questioned if it was necessary to house him there.

At other times, when he had an episode, it was clear he needed professional assistance.

"He had been struggling with bipolar disorder for 45 years and he couldn't handle stress," said his sister, Patricia Finerty. At the same time, she remembered her younger brother as "a quiet soul."

Vega at about 2 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 25, walked away from the facility he lived at in the 1400 block of Fifth Street. Just about 48 hours later, a passerby spotted Vega's body floating in the Saginaw River near Wenonah Park in downtown Bay City.

Vega had no children but had been married once, that union ending in divorce. Born in Bridgeport, Vega was a carpenter by trade, Finerty said.

For more than a decade, Vega lived in a facility in Traverse City but was transferred to Bay City in February. For hobbies, he liked to watch old western and war movies.

"He was a great guy," Finerty said. "Both AFC houses said he was their best resident."

To mark Vega's 64th birthday on March 6, his sister and her family continued an annual tradition of taking him to his favorite restaurant, Boone's Long Lake Inn in Traverse City.

In recent months, Vega underwent a change in his prescribed medication. He was not doing well on the new meds, his sister said.

On May 20, Vega experienced a bipolar episode that required him to be hospitalized.

"He never recovered from that," Finerty said. "It just spiraled out of control the last three months."

Finerty again saw her brother in June and earlier in August and said he was doing not well on either occasion. He had lost weight and was "almost like a zombie," she said.

"Typically, he would call me and he hadn't been calling me," she said. "Even though he had a cellphone, he wasn't using it. He wasn't answering it."

About two weeks ago, staff at the AFC house tried getting Vega admitted to McLaren Bay Region's psychiatric ward. McLaren would not accept him as he was not considered a danger to himself or others, Finerty said.

"Two weeks later, he's in the river," she said.

Vega had an evaluation with a case worker Friday just before he walked away from the facility. He left without wallet or eyeglasses, something which baffled Finerty due to her brothers' poor vision.

"I don't even know how he crossed Center Avenue without his glasses," she said.

On receiving word that Vega had left the facility, family began sharing his photos on social media and asking people to keep an eye out for him. A woman reported seeing him talking to himself in the parking lot of Penzien-Steele Funeral Home, 608 N. Madison Ave., for about a half-hour Friday afternoon.

The AFC house's staff drove around the city looking for Vega but were unable to locate him. Police also responded to the AFC house Friday.

Bay City Public Safety Deputy Director Rod Schanck said there were no obvious signs of foul play on Vega's body. An autopsy is scheduled to take place Monday afternoon to determine the cause, manner, and approximate time of Vega's death.

Vega was the third of five children and the only boy. Finerty, older than him by 18 months, still lives in Michigan while his other three sisters reside out of state.

"We all loved him very much. It's unfortunate that this happened," Finerty said.

She added that her family would like to thank those in online neighborhood watch groups who were looking for her brother.

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