Records: Doctor’s call prompted search for Sinead O’Connor

CHICAGO – A search last month in suburban Chicago for Sinead O’Connor was launched after a doctor concerned about her welfare contacted authorities, according to police documents obtained Wednesday.

The May 15 call prompted a search of hotels by 10 police departments, according to the documents from the Wilmette Police Department that The Associated Press obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The name of the doctor who called police is blacked out, but the report says the doctor was calling about a patient.

The search for the Irish singer-songwriter began within an hour of the doctor’s call, the documents show. O’Connor was found later that day at an unidentified hotel. The police report doesn’t indicate her condition at the time.

A rambling message posted that evening on O’Connor’s official Facebook page referred to emotional trauma she had been through over the years.

O’Connor scored an international hit in 1990 with her rendition of Prince’s ballad “Nothing Compares 2 U.” But her blunt-spoken manner often drew criticism, notably in 1992 after she ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live.”

O’Connor said she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder more than a decade ago and has spoken publicly of her mental health problems.