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Hollywood Actress' Alleged Filing of Missing Persons Report on Scientology Leader's Wife Sparks Fiery Church Response, LAPD Inquiry
Actress Leah Remini has left the Church of Scientology and reportedly filed a mising persons report on its leader's wife, Shelly (Photo Credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Hollywood Actress' Alleged Filing of Missing Persons Report on Scientology Leader's Wife Sparks Fiery Church Response, LAPD Inquiry

"Ms. Remini has aligned herself with a handful of untrustworthy, lunatic tabloid sources who obsessively harass the Church to advance their selfish agendas."

Actress Leah Remini's split with the Church of Scientology has received a fair bit of attention. While TheBlaze first covered the issue last month, there's a new alleged development that's making headlines. Earlier this week, Remini allegedly filed a missing persons report on Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded, claiming that its merits were unfounded and that the woman in question had been located.

While filing the report in the first place may seem odd on the surface, there's some context worth revisiting. When her split from the church was first reported, some claimed that the rift allegedly began at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes wedding in 2006, when the actress reportedly questioned Shelly's whereabouts (she hasn't been seen in public for six years).

Considering that Remini was friends with the head honcho's wife, her purported inquiry was reasonable. But it was apparently met with intense resistance.

Actress Leah Remini has left the Church of Scientology and reportedly filed a mising persons report on its leader's wife, Shelly Miscavige (Photo Credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Not surprisingly, when she left the church, Remini spoke openly in her belief that questioning is healthy -- and that it's something she values. While she didn't go into specifics, some of the alleged stories about the actress calling into question the church's actions seemed to be substantiated by her comments on the matter.

"I believe that people should value family, and value friendships, and hold those things sacrosanct," she said. "That for me, that's what I'm about. It wouldn't matter what it was, simply because no one is going to tell me how I need to think, no one is going to tell me who I can, and cannot, talk to."

In the past, Scientologist leaders have repeatedly said that the leader's wife is continuously doing work on behalf of the church. The LAPD inquiry does seem to prove that, at the least, Shelly has been located and that she is not missing as some have wondered.

COMMERCIAL IMAGE - From left, Lisa Rinna, Constance Marie, Holly Robinson Peete, Alison Sweeney and Leah Remini attend The HollyRod Foundation's 3rd Annual My Brother Charlie Family Fun Festival at Culver Studios on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in Culver City, Calif. Credit: Invision for The HollyRod Founda

On Thursday evening, LAPD Depective Gus Villanueva told the Daily Mail that authorities met with Shelly and that, based on the facts of the case, she was never missing. They completed their investigation around 3 p.m. PT.

What is unclear, though, is whether police visited Shelly where she is living (she is said to potentially be residing in Church of Spiritual Technology, a compound that purportedly shuts her and a dozen others off from the rest of the world) or whether she went on her own accord to the authorities.

Regardless, the church is less-than-content over the report's filing. In a statement delivered to the Daily Mail, the Church of Scientology spoke out against Remini, claiming that she is syncing up with "fringe" and "anti-religious zealots":

"The Los Angeles Police Department has already stated that the case is closed and that the report filed by Leah Remini was unfounded.

This ill-advised, ludicrous self-promotion and the media inquiries it generated caused an inexcusable distraction for the LAPD in an era when the time and resources of its officers are stretched thin each day.

"Creating this unnecessary burden for law enforcement was even more irresponsible given the entire episode was nothing more than a publicity stunt for Ms. Remini, cooked up with unemployed, anti-religious zealots who blog on the fringe of the Internet.

Sadly, rather than move on with her life and career, Ms. Remini has aligned herself with a handful of untrustworthy, lunatic tabloid sources who obsessively harass the Church to advance their selfish agendas."

A screen shot from Ortega's website

Former Village Voice editor Tony Ortego originally broke the story about the missing persons report, claiming that the actress filed it on Wednesday evening. In an update posted on his blog, he claims that sources told him that the LAPD did not immediately deliver answers to Remini and, as far as she knew, the case was still open even after police announced that they had made contact with Shelly and that it was closed.

"So the public still has no confirmation on where Shelly Miscavige is, what condition she’s in, and why she hasn’t been seen at church events in the last seven years," Ortega wrote. "And Leah Remini, as far as we know, has received no answers to her questions."

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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