MN Security Hospital patient missing

St. Peter police are searching for a missing patient at a state-run psychiatric treatment center.

St. Peter Police Chief Matt Peters said the patient, William Daniel Pfeffer, Jr., 25, was wearing an electronic monitor while on the grounds of the Minnesota Security Hospital. Employees received an alert from the electronic monitoring system indicating that he had left the area at about 1:45 p.m., Peters said.

The Minnesota Security Hospital provides treatment for people deemed mentally ill and dangerous. The program is separate from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, which shares the same grounds.

Peters said that he has no information that would indicate that the missing patient poses a threat to the community. Patients occasionally leave the campus without permission, he said, and police assist with the facility's efforts to locate them.

He described Pfeffer as 5'6", 240 pounds, with a shaved head, black beard, black pants, a navy shirt and black shoes. Anyone who notices someone in the area who fits that description should call police, he said.

The patient was participating in a pre-transition program at the facility and was nearing the end of his treatment, said Minnesota Department of Human Services spokesperson Patrice Vick, who confirmed that authorities are searching for the patient.

Pfeffer was convicted of second-degree assault in March 2007 and was committed as mentally ill and dangerous in August 2009, according to court and law enforcement records.