Elizabeth turned to God & cut herself off from world .. she said we should all repent
Woman missing since Christmas Eve
THE family of a missing former detective last seen in the Highlands have told how she vanished after “turning to God”.
Elizabeth Howe, 43, has not been seen since Christmas Eve but her car was spotted in the Glencoe area on New Year’s Day, where she may have been travelling with her new boyfriend.
Her sister-in-law Leanne Alex, 38, yesterday appealed on behalf of the family for Elizabeth to come home and told how her relative had become religious since quitting her job with the police two years ago.
She said: “She seems to have just disappeared. She became very religious and turned to God and Christianity but we don’t know why. That is part of the police’s line of inquiry at the moment.
“She was breaking herself away from her family and friends, then she lost her dad.
“Since her dad passed away, she has just cut herself off from the whole world.”
Elizabeth, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, was last seen near in her home town on December 24.
Police Scotland were asked to assist the investigation after her blue Ford Focus was detected passing a camera in Glencoe on January 1. Greater Manchester Police, who are leading the inquiry, say officers are becoming “increasingly concerned” for their former colleague.
Leanne said police believe Elizabeth, an auntie of four with three siblings, could have recently been in the Fort William area.
Before she disappeared, she had been uploading almost daily “preaching” videos to a YouTube page, where she discussed her new faith.
But the family say they do not know which church Catherine had become a member of.
Leanne said: “She was trying to warn people. She said God was coming to take us away and if we didn’t repent our sins we were getting left behind. She had her views and they were set in stone. She gave up the police and spent a lot of time on her own.
“She doesn’t have any connection to Scotland that we know of. We don’t understand why they’re there. I’m looking in hostels and the police are checking churches.”
The family did not know Elizabeth’s new boyfriend, who is not thought to have been reported missing.
Leanne said: “If this is the life they want that’s fair enough and we as a family will have to accept it, but we just want to know she’s safe. It’s out of character. It’s not Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth is 5ft 8in and slim with shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes.