The whereabouts of a Michigan doctor missing for nearly three months remain unknown, despite the revelation of her fixation on gospel singer Marvin Sapp and erroneous reports of her being found at a Wal-Mart.
Teleka Patrick, 30, is an African-American medical resident at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo, Mich. She was reported missing on Dec. 6.
In the weeks since her disappearance, investigators determined that Patrick had a romantic obsession with Sapp, a Grand Rapids, Mich. resident. According to The Kalamazoo Gazette, Patrick discussed Sapp at length on her Twitter account, and her focus on the singer was intense enough that he received a judicial personal protection order against her in September.
Despite speculation that Sapp played a role in Patrick’s disappearance, police said in late January that he was not a suspect nor connected in any way to the case.
According to an FBI missing person report, Patrick was last seen on the evening of Dec. 5 at approximately 8:00 p.m. after her shift at work. The report stated that she unsuccessfully tried to rent a hotel room in downtown Kalamazoo, and was then dropped off by the hotel’s shuttle driver at her vehicle in the parking lot of the medical center.
Her car, a gold 1997 Lexus ES300, was found abandoned by an Indiana State Police trooper later that night on Interstate 94 in Indiana. The Associated Press reported that Patrick’s wallet, cash and identification were in the car, but her keys were not.
At a news conference, Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller said Patrick told colleagues she was going to Chicago to visit a relative. She told another colleague that she needed money and a ride to a nearby hotel, the AP reported.
A Wal-Mart employee in Battle Creek, Mich. reported seeing Patrick at the store in early February but, according to The Detroit Free Press, police determined that the woman spotted was not Patrick.
Indiana State Police Detective Sgt. Rick Strong told the Gazette that there are too many questions surrounding Patrick’s disappearance that authorities still cannot answer.
“At this point, we’re stagnant,” he said. “We have no leads.”
Patrick is from New York, and graduated with a medical degree and a doctorate in biochemistry from Loma Linda University in California. According to the FBI, at the time of her disappearance she was wearing a black full-zipper hoodie, black pants, and black shoes.
Representatives of the Detroit office of the FBI, Kalamazoo Sheriff’s Office, and Indiana State Police could not be reached for additional comment.
Patrick is one of two African Americans currently on the FBI’s Kidnappings and Missing Persons list, along with 16-year-old Keiosha Marie Felix of Louisiana, who has been missing since April 2012.
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