Teleka Patrick, a missing medical resident, was stalking gospel singer Marvin Sapp prior to her disappearance, according to an area news station. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based WOOD-TV reported late Thursday that Sapp filed for a personal protection order in Kent County in September. In the court filing, Sapp stated that Patrick, 30, had been referring to him as her husband and had moved from California to western Michigan to join his church, the Lighthouse Full Light Center Church in Grand Rapids.
Her family had previously stated that she decided to attend Kalamazoo's Western Michigan University for its residential psychiatry program. Sapp said Patrick had contacted his three children and had been to his home, and that he had "over 400 page(s) of correspondence from her to which I have never responded." He added that Patrick's stalking had gone on for at least a year prior to her moving to Michigan. "Throughout my career, my family and I have fallen victim to inappropriate attempts to contact me by several unknown individuals," Sapp said in a statement to the TV station Thursday. "As a father of three and pastor of one of the largest congregations in west Michigan, I cannot take this kind of obsessive attention lightly. Given these previous acts, I have taken several security measures, which have included obtaining a protective order to ensure our safety."
Sapp could not be reached for comment.
Patrick was last seen Dec. 5 in the parking lot of Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo by a shuttle driver with the Radisson Hotel. Her car was found later that evening, nearly 100 miles away in a ditch off I-94 near Porter, Ind.
