Posted on 07/31/2007 9:36:53 AM PDT by rawhide
The wife of an Alabama minister missing for more than four months has been located by police unharmed and working under an alias at a fast-food restaurant in New York state, authorities said Monday.
Louisiana police located Mary Byrne Smith alive and well in New York state on Friday. The 30-year-old kindergarten teacher had been working under an assumed name at a fast-food restaurant.
"We know it’s her," Bossier City Police Chief Mike Halphen said at a press conference Monday. "She did not want us to disclose the reasons why she left, and she did not want us to disclose where she is living."
She does not face criminal charges, he said.
"People have their reasons for wanting to start a new life and that was her choosing," Halphen said. "And again, we encouraged her very, very hard to contact her family and at least talk with her children and we believe that she will."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Checking Google I find that she was in attendance at a Christian Seminar in Bossier City, La and left the seminar about 11:00 am Mar 24, 2007, went to a pawn shop and pawned her wedding ring and disappeared. Thus the Bossier City police became involved because of the disappearance occurred in their city. The pawn shop also had her picture on film of her pawning the ring... Not sure of the reason[s] she disappeared but apparently she was having problems at the school in which she taught in AL.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,291005,00.html
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070726/BREAKINGNEWS/70726033
Was not the husband suspected of disposing of his wife?
I still do not know how a wife can up and leave the children with out any kind of contact.
How was she working under an alias with out having an ID such as a fake Social Security number.
Don’t condemn a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes.
Agreed.
Unfortunately there are generally mortgage, vehicle loans and credit debt that both parties are obligated to service. It’s generally impossible to walk away and wash your hands of all obligations.
I know you didn’t ask me, but she’s a teacher and they found her when she applied for certification in NY.
By your support for what this woman did, you are doing just that to the husband, children, family and friends. Have you walked in their shoes?
“Don’t condemn a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes.”
Nonsense, if it were a man we would condemn him. If she wanted to leave then fine, leave. But tell your kids and parents. Press charges against hubby if he’s beating you. But to walk out and refuse contact shows a serious lack of character.
I agree. It was an unbelievably irresponsible act on her part. Aside from the terrible impact this must have on her family, which I can’t even begin to imagine, she cost her local municipality thousand sof dollars to find her after she disappeared.
Someone who abandons their children is a scumbag. Period.
If he was the nutcase, she left her children in the custody of a nutcase and left them wondering if their mother was alive or dead.
a corollary of that is that some of these wives ought to think twice about marrying preachers.
Families have obligations.
So...that does not mean she goes to jail. What is he kicked the snot out of her daily? What if he was cheating on her? We don’t know the full story yet. She looks like a hot women so I am sure that it was something acceptable. I say give her a break.
excellent point
“We can’t know what’s really going on here. I can think of one scenario that exonerates her, but it’s just guesswork:”
Why does all the guesswork revolve around him abusing her? The bias on this thread is deafening.
Lets stick with the facts as known. She abandoned her family and let them believe harm had come to her.
I’ve known a lot of pastors and baptist ministers who were great men. Being a pastors wife is not easy but abandoning your family seems a drastic recourse.
Sometimes the obvious answer isn't the easiest. Some people have a problem reaching out for help.
Well, yessiree, this is a piece of cake to get her to talk.
Preacher man, get a new girlfriend half her age, file for divorce and take custody of the kids.
For abandonment, its a slam dunk.
Then, file charges against her for child support.
Let the state crawl up her a$$ make her life miserable.
In case anyone’s noticed, state govs are now hammering non paying wives as much as men.
She’s cooked.
In February 2007 she was fired from her job because she tested positive for controlled substances.
In March 2007 she attended an evangelical conference with a friend, and walked out, pawned her wedding ring and took off for New York.
What it looks like is that she enjoyed partying more than being a wife or a mother or a teacher.
There are no reports of abuse.
If he was unfaithful, I'm not sure why she would abandon her children and not tell them where their mother was going.
I was fair. I said she could also be an irresponsible wretch devoid of virtue.
Either she has a good reason to prefer slinging hash in NY to her home life...or she doesn’t.
I am waiting for more information.
Well, yes. Not to mention that it’d have been tantamount to saying to them, “I want help, just not from YOU.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.