A FINNISH religion teacher has been found safe in a historic Scots cathedral just 25 minutes walk from where she was last seen after being missing for ten days.
Police began investigating the disappearance of devout Lutheran Riina Elisabeth Sjögren, 38, after her belongings were found abandoned at Edinburgh Airport having failed to board a booked flight to Amsterdam.
In the days leading up to her disappearance her behaviour was said to have grown more erratic and she was last spotted on CCTV at the York Place tram stop near the Playhouse at 10.20pm on January 9. By then she had travelled over 1,600 miles since leaving home.
On Friday morning, a day after police revealed that they were to approach churches, monasteries and other religious groups in a bid to find her, she was recognised by a staff member in St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh who contacted the police.
Close friend Marjo Moilanen said she wept "happy tears for a change" after hearing Ms Sjögren was safe and sister Kirsi Sjögren said: "I spoke with her, and I was just happy to hear her voice."
Ms Sjögren had been a religious education supply teacher teaching Catholicism to several elementary schools in Helsinki for a year and was a devout Lutheran, belonging to a major denomination of Protestant Christianity which identifies with the theology of the 16th century German monk, ecclesiastical reformer and theologian Martin Luther.
Cathedral chaplain Rev Dr Kenneth Fleming said: "It was one of our staff who discovered her and phoned the police. I think everything seemed to be okay.
"She is not one of our church members and we don't really know her back story and why she was here. We get a lot of people coming into the cathedral and just spending time here.
"The church is always a place of refuge for people, and a place of welcome."
He did not think she had been staying in the cathedral saying: "The Cathedral is closed at night."
How she managed during one of the coldest spells of the year remains a mystery.
Kirsi Sjögren thanked all those who helped finally trace her sister.
"She is totally fine. We want to thank the Police of Scotland, Finnish Embassy and all the participants for their efforts," she said.
Ms Moilanen said: "We just know that she has been found and is safe. So your [previous] headline was right? The church solved the riddle."
The religious education teacher, who taught Catholicism to several elementary schools in Helsinki, left her job and was said to have not been enjoying her work.
She had flown to Edinburgh before heading to London in search of work.
Police had been concerned that her mental health may have deteriorated, after she failed to board a flight to Amsterdam and then left a bag, containing her purse, phone, coat and other belongings at Edinburgh Airport.
She left Edinburgh Airport at around 8.30 pm on January 9 and was captured on CCTV at the York Place tram stop near the Playhouse an hour and 50 minutes later - but then disappeared.
The cathedral, where she was found is the mother church of the Diocese of Edinburgh in the Scottish Episcopal Church and is just one-and-a-half miles from the tram stop.
Family had speculated that she might have taken refuge in a church.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "It's great news. She is safe. She is being looked after by police."
She said the force did not know what she had been doing over the ten days.
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