Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 12, 1994 TAG: 9411140085
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Medium
An Arlington woman who was the subject of an intensive search before she turned up safe did not return home immediately Friday.
Katrine Stewart, 39, disappeared Tuesday after dropping off her daughter for a school field trip. Hundreds of police and volunteers searched for the mother of five for two days before she resurfaced late Thursday night.
A family friend released a statement Friday from Stewart's husband, David, who said, ``Katrine is resting and getting the care she needs.''
David Stewart told WUSA-TV that the children were doing fine.
``We have a lot of support. We're very grateful for that,'' he said. ``I want to say that what really astounded us all was the level of support we got from the people in Arlington.''
Concerning the search, he said the family was sorry for the trouble, ``But with what we knew, I think we all did the right thing.''
Katrine Stewart was hiding in a Washington church because of an ongoing dispute with her husband over religious issues, Arlington police spokesman Tom Bell said Friday. She was unaware of the search, he said.
``She snuck into the church; they did not know she was staying there,'' Bell said.
Katrine Stewart called friends after she left the church to get something to eat and could not get back inside. Her friends notified police.
She was staying with family friends Friday, a woman who answered the telephone at the family home said.
Bell said Stewart's husband had told officers he and his wife had discussed converting from the Episcopal faith to Catholicism. But Bell said the husband thought they had decided not to convert.
Stewart said she had been getting by on water and trail mix, Bell said. Police have dropped the matter, which they now regard as a domestic dispute.
by CNB