MRS. CHRISTIE FOUND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19512, 16 December 1926, Page 13

MRS. CHRISTIE FOUND.

LIVING AT A HOTEL. fictitious: name given. MIXED WITH OTHER GUESTS. MOTIVE NOT DISCLOSED. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received 10 p.m.) Sun. LONDON, Dec. 14. . Mrs. Agatha Christie, the novelist, who mysteriously disappeared from her home in Berkshire or December 3, has been found at Harrogate, in Yorkshire, a fashionable ! watering-place. Here she was discovered j living at a leading hotel. . Mrs. Christie arrived at the hotel on the night of "her disappearance and had since led ohe life o' an ordinary guest. On arrival at the hotel she gave the name o? Miss Teresa Neele, of Capetown. She spent che time doing crossword puzzles, shopping, reading and singing m the music-room. She appeared among the other guests and was always quite normal. The discovery of Mrs. Christie was as dramatic as her disappearance. Sirs. Taylor, the wife of the manager o! the hotel, last Wednesday suspected their guest was the missing novelist, but Mr. Taylor dismissed the idea as absurd. Yesterday, however, his wife insisted, and maid servants drew attention to the similarity ot the guest to the published portraits of Mrs. Christie. Mr. Taylor thereupon informed the police. The police notified Colonel Christie, the woman's husband, and he accompanied detectives to Harrogate. Colonel Christie and detectives hid near the hotel lift ..overlooking the staircase leading to the dining room. When his wife appeared wearing an evening gown Colonel Christie nodded to the detectives, who informed her that her husband had arrived. She was perfectly composed and walked quietly to the lounge. Her husband followed and there an affecting reunion took place. Mr. Taylor said Mrs. Christie mixed freely with the guests, disarming suspicion by. her apparent frankness. She took meals in the dining room, but often had breakfast in her bedroom. She was by no means'excited when she read, the news-, papers. Colonel Christie says his wife has completely lost her memory and does not know him. He hopes that rest and quiet will restore her health. It is now revealed that Mrs. Christie, after abandoning her car at. Newland's Corner, where she was last seen, walked to Clandon station and caught a train to London. On arrival there she proceeded to King's Cros3 station and caught a train to Harrogate. Mrs. Christie was first missed from the home of her husband, Colonel Christie, in Berkshire on December 3. Next morning a gipsy boy found her abandoned motorcar in a lonely part of the Surrey Downs. For three days and nights a search was made, but without success. Colonel Christie told thfe police that Mrs. Christie had been suffering from a nervous breakdown. Then , the police were handed two letters written on Friday and posted next day .by Mrs. ChtistieV one sent to. her husband, one to a friend, and the police decided that the- missing woman was still alive. Later a- telegram was < sent from Beverley, near Harrogate, _ stating: " Regret cannot come. Christie." One of the most extensive searches known in England had been carried out in an effort to find traces of Mrs. Christie.