Missing woman on ‘extended holiday’ rumours dismissed by family members

Mohamed Zafran/DTNN 

zafran@dt.bh 

Manama 

Speculation regarding a missing British woman spending an extended holiday in Bahrain has been dismissed by her family members. 

A UK national has been missing in Bahrain since last week, after arriving in the Kingdom as a visitor. The 54-year-old, who is known by the name Christine Gutteridge, is an employee of Security Forces Hospital in Saudi Arabia. 

Although she uses the last name Gutteridge on all her social media accounts, her official name is Christine Appleton, her son Courtney Appleton stated yesterday. “I wish to request the media to use the name Christine Appleton because that is the name on her passport,” Courtney told DT News. 

A rumour was spread that she was seen in a bar in Juffair last Friday, leading to speculations that she is just spending an extended holiday in Bahrain rather than being in any sort of trouble. 

When asked about speculations about Ms. Appleton taking an extended holiday, Courtney Appleton said, “If she had, she would have notified us. This is an unusual behaviour in her.” 

Meanwhile, finding Ms. Appleton is complicated by the fact that family members and friends were unable to provide her identification number to the authorities. 

Since coming to Bahrain she was reportedly admitted to a hospital twice, and had checked out of Movenpick hotel in Muharraq last Wednesday. But, she has not used her social media accounts and she has not contacted anyone since then. 

“She has not responded to messages, she kept away from social media and her phone is switched off,” Courtney said, adding he had checked with the hospitals and hotels in Bahrain to no avail. 

When contacted by DT News, Ms. Appleton’s younger son Ayden said that he had also sent out details of his mother to hotels in Bahrain. 

Lucie Blackman Trust, a UK Based charity organisation, was the first to report the case. “Ms. Appleton is described as 5’7” tall, of slim build with blonde curly hair and greenish eyes. From UK, you can call our central free phone information line on 0800 098 8485. Calls are free from landlines but may be charged from mobiles. From overseas you can call +44800 098 8485 but this will incur costs,” the organisation stated.