Father receives letter from missing daughter

Lawrence Journal-World, Kansas/February 10, 2006

A Lawrence man who thinks his daughter joined a cult and left town has received a letter from her.

In the letter, Sam Hunsaker said his daughter Lahla, 20, wrote that she had been reading the Bible since she left and was trying to get closer to God without “conforming to the world.”

The disappearance of Lahla Hunsaker was reported in Wednesday’s Journal-World. Her father said he last saw her Saturday. Two to three weeks ago, she joined a Bible study group, which she called The Brethren. She left her 10-month-old son with her fiancé, who lives in Topeka.

After studying The Brethren online, Sam Hunsaker said he expected the letter. Defectors typically send three letters before cutting off communication with family, Hunsaker said.

In the letter, Lahla Hunsaker said her disappearance was not a random act.

“God has been showing me truth. This is why I left (her fiancé and son). It was not right by God for me to be in that situation,” she wrote.

Lawrence Police took the original letter. Sam Hunsaker has filed a missing-person report.