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Talk To Me, Plea By Cult Girl'S Mum
Kent Today, Tuesday, 20 May 1995
By Clare Jardine A Kent woman has made an emotional plea to the daughter she claims has cut her off after joining a religious sect: "Please give me one chance just to talk to you". Pauline Day says her daughter Helen has broken all ties with her after becoming involved with the Church of Scientology. And Mrs Day, a 50-year-old legal secretary from Dene Road, Dartford, has been denied access to her beloved grandson Sam for more than a year.
EMIGRATED
Mrs Day says Helen, who was at school in Bexley before starting a promising career, became involved with the church after she met her husband Paul Cruse, a scientologist. Then the daughter, who once spoke to her mother daily on the phone and saw her weekly became increasingly distant and began making excuses to miss family occassions. "Then we received a letter saying she would have no more to do with myself and my husband. She changed her phone number and I don't even know where she works," said Mrs Day. "I know she has a flat in South London but I don't want to cause a confrontation by sitting on her doorstep. All I want is the chance to speak to her. Even if she does not change her mind, at least we will have tried." Mrs Day said she felt bereaved since her daughter had "disconnected" herself. "If she had emigrated it would have been awful but at least we would still have contact." "I feel like the parent of a runaway child with the anguish of not knowing if she is alive or dead." But a spokesman for the Church of Scientology said the split between the mother and daughter had nothing to do with them. "This was a decision made independently by Helen and has nothing to do with the church at all", she said. "Our policy is to build up family relationships".
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