Mystery of final picture of vanished lawyer mum, 49, at her daughter’s birthday party – as husband claims she may have joined a cult
Photo shows Renata Antczak smiling with her family - but she mysteriously insisted on holding her daughter's birthday party three weeks early
THE last picture of missing mum Renata Antczak could hold a vital clue to her disappearance — as her husband claims she may have run off to join a cult.
Majid Mustafa, 47, believes his lawyer wife had secretly joined a sect on a visit to her native Poland and kept in touch with members by phone.
Renata, 49, dropped her daughter Victoria at school in Hull, East Yorks, drove home in her black Mercedes and left the car behind before disappearing without trace on April 25.
Today it was reported she had insisted on moving the youngster's 11th birthday forward by three weeks, from April 30 to April 8 - suggesting she was planning to flee.
Majid, a dentist, : "Why have the party early? Maybe because she was planning to go. There are many questions for which there are no answers."
He says his wife had demanded a divorce in March and wanted to take their daughter to live in Poland, which he was against.
For the last six months she had spent a week out of every month in Poland, supposedly to train as a therapist for a homeopathic treatment called TimeWaver.
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Majid says he now believes she had been "brainwashed" and was in contact with strange people.
He said: "She started to wear different jewellery, especially a gold necklace, which she said took the bad energy from her.
"She started to contact people we didn't know, and at home would light candles everywhere.
"After she'd gone we found some of her writing. It talked about her feeling free, free from relationships, free from everything.
"One sentence said, 'I don't have any obligation to anyone'. I think she's joined a sect. I don't know what it's called, but think she had contact with them when she went to Poland."
Eldest daughter Magda, 20, a student, said the family is desperate for her mother to make contact.
In a direct appeal, Magda said: "Mum, we love you. Just let us know you're OK and that you can hopefully come back to us when you're ready to.
"We can forget everything and start over. For now, please just contact us."
Majid said the family had tried to change her mind about leaving and added: "I still love her very much and I want her to come back. If she doesn’t want to stay with me, that’s her choice."
Renata has not made contact with her mother in Lodz and Polish cops have not found any trace in the country, according to reports.
Humberside Police say there has been one "unconfirmed sighting" of Renata in Poland since she went missing but they have no evidence she has left the UK.
Superintendent Phil Ward said: "All indications following extensive investigation suggest Renata has not left the United Kingdom.
"We have been made aware of the family's theory that she has returned to the Poland to join a cult.
"However it is not a primary line of inquiry and there is no evidence to corroborate this theory.
"We still need the public's help with details of any sightings of Renata since April 25 or information on her whereabouts."
Police have previously said there was nothing to suggest her state of mind at the time was "anything other than normal" at the time she disappeared.
Supt Ward said last week: "She took her daughter to school in the morning, nothing had happened previously. She has never been missing before.
"She has simply not been seen since and we need to find out where she is and make sure she is safe."
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