Records: Missing doctor had stalked gospel singer


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KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) - Grammy-nominated gospel singer Marvin Sapp received a personal protection order against a 30-year-old Michigan doctor about three months before she went missing, according to court documents.

A local judge issued the order against Teleka Patrick in September. Sapp, pastor of Lighthouse Full Life Center Church in Grand Rapids, alleged that Patrick claimed to be his wife, contacted his teenage children and had been to his home. He said she had joined his church after moving from California.

"I have at least 400 page(s) of correspondence from her which I have never responded to," Sapp wrote in his petition requesting the protection order, which is effective until March 18.

Patrick last was seen on Dec. 5 after trying to check into a hotel in Kalamazoo, where she was a resident at a local hospital. Her Lexus was found later that night about 100 miles away in a ditch along Interstate 94 in northern Indiana. Her wallet, cash and identification were in the car.

Police in Michigan and Indiana, and the FBI, are investigating her disappearance.

Patrick's parents, Mattahais and Irene Patrick, released a statement to The Kalamazoo Gazette saying that authorities advised them not to discuss the protective order because it could impede the search for their daughter.

"There are so many details that have been revealed during the course of this investigation that confuse and hurt us all the more," they said. "Regardless of Teleka's emotional state, we believe wholeheartedly that she has encountered some harm or danger. It is unlike her to go any significant length of time without any contact with family or friends."

Jim Carlin, a private investigator hired by the family, told The Associated Press on Friday that he could not comment on the protection order.

"The family's position is they did not know this was going on, and regardless of what may or may not be accurate, the focus today is to focus on what happened Dec. 5 and bring her home," Carlin said.

Teleka Patrick was raised in New York and graduated earlier this year with a medical degree and a doctorate in biochemistry from Loma Linda University in California. She had been serving her medical residency at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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