My sister-in-law disappeared 5 1/2 years ago. She took nothing except the clothes on her back and gave us no information on where she was headed, only that God would provide. She was seen speaking to a woman who apparently was involved in a cult a couple days prior to her leaving. We have not heard anything from her until she resurfaced two weeks ago. Over the past two weeks she has visited her immediate family members, including my husband and our children. She will not give specifics about where she has been. She wears a uniform of sorts, a long skirt, long sleeved blouse, wool socks and jesus sandals. She says that she "trades" for a living and has taken up sewing. She mentioned that in the 5 1/2 years she was away, she has spent a little over $100. She has indicated that she does not know how long she will be able to stick around. Although we have all offered her a place to stay when she visits, she says she cannot and must get back to the people she stays with while visiting Pittsburgh. We asked her to join us on our summer vacation and she stated that it is not acceptable for her to see all that skin (we are assuming she is talking about seeing people in their bathing suits).

We are all very relieved that she is alive after not hearing from her for so long, but there is still so much mystery and she seems so "flaky". We don't really know what to do or what to say. We don't want to offend her for fear that she might never get in touch with us again, but on the other hand, we want to shake her and say "snap out of it, you're acting crazy".

Any advice? Her parents are not the type to go out and hire someone to deprogram her. They are just relieved she is alive after all this time.

There is a possibility she might be hooked up with "The Bretheren."

[www.culteducation.com]

Also see [members.tripod.com]

Another group that somewaht fits that profile is "Twelve Tribes."

See [www.culteducation.com]

However, they are usually more forthcoming with information and lived in fixed communites.

See [www.culteducation.com]

This offers some general information that might be helpful.

Note the section titled "Coping Strategies."