A frantic hours-long search for a 24-year-old British teacher in Qatar appeared to come to an end last night after her boyfriend posted on Facebook that she had died.
But it remains unclear what happened to Lauren Patterson, who teaches at a primary school in Doha.
According to family friends, the expat went missing shortly after returning to Qatar on Friday from the UK, where she attended her grandmother’s funeral.
Friends said she was last seen outside of La Cigale hotel late Friday evening/early Saturday morning, around 1:20am.
On Sunday, a Facebook post from Patterson’s boyfriend, James Grima of Malta, saying she was missing went viral. But hours later, Grima posted that Patterson had passed away:
“I can’t believe that it had to end this way Lauren, I really don’t. I was so happy that I had finally found someone that could change my life so much, and in such a positive way too…Rest In Peace babe…I will always look up at the sky cause you always were the brightest star and always will be.”
Grima did not go into details of how Patterson died, and he and other family friends referred Doha News to the British embassy for comment.
It is understood that Patterson’s mother is coming to Doha to make a positive identification of her body. Until they have confirmation of her death, the embassy has declined to provide further details, stating in an email to Doha News this morning that:
“We are aware of a British National, Lauren Patterson reported missing in Qatar. We are providing the family with consular assistance.”
Does anyone know more? Thoughts?
Credit: Photo courtesy of Lauren Patterson’s Facebook page
This is the second teacher death in a year in Qatar, what is going on. Although it is sad for the family to lose someone in this way let’s hope it was not from foul play, if it is the safe place some people keep referring to is not that safe. (Even if most news outlets and the government like to bury such stories)
in fact, unless you are a child, it is strange that a 24-yr-old would go missing in this city….
A lot of crime against women goes unreported here and women need to take precautions as they would do anywhere else. The overall crime rate may be lower than in some cities in the world, but it does not mean Qatar is crime free.
the worst is that it is a taboo to talk about it on the papers, so people are not aware.
it is not a story being buried if it is on this site. strange story though.
Bad events like this before Doha News got reported one day and then forgotten about forever.
What was the final outcome of the terrorist bombing in 2005 in Doha?
What happened with the American teacher allegedly killed by a security guard?
I could go on but you get the picture
no place in the world is crime free. using common sense goes a long way. there needs to be a real investigation as to what happened of course.
Qatar was once crime free until the expats started pouring in thats when the trouble started… sad but true.
Really, Non at all? I find that very hard to believe.
I think it is the same as people saying in the west, in the 1950s we could leave our front doors open…. they were right, you had nothing to steal. Same here.
Exactly, and there wasn’t much terrorism in the West until the Moozlems started their secret invasion under the guise of immigration. We, I mean they, even managed to get one of their own in the White House :p
Well, we didn’t call it a crime back then, so :p
You crack me up 🙂
hahha ya stealing a pack of gum was more like giving a gift for ourselves 😛
me too since it wasn’t that long ago 🙁
Take your rose tinted specs off….that’s BS……sure, crime would have been much lower, given that there were only about 100o people here until 2005. OK, I exaggerate, but you see my point. When 2/3 of the population are expats, that’s inevitable, but your suggestion that Qatar was a crime free society without expats is ridiculous.
I know its a shock for you since you came from an enviornment with crime everywhere. go back to Qatar’s history of serious crimes such as killing and stealing etc… they didnt start until the down pour of expats and I know in the near future inshalla the issue will be resolved by slowly deporting expats from the country.
Actually I’ve lived in two countries, both with a perception of being crime-ridden, but have only been the victim of crime once in 35 years, and not a particularly serious one either. Of course Qatari, we could talk about crimes of the State, of which Qatar is a daily perpetrator, as demonstrated by its laughable failure to enforce its own labour laws amongst others, but lets not got there, instead, lets look at your desire to rid the country of expats…….who is going to clean your home? cook your food? fill up your car? shine up the floors in landmark? pack your shopping bags? look after your children? come out to your car when you impatiently beep for your dry cleaning? Ah yes, in your ideal world, it will be Qataris, prepared to take on even the most menial tasks! Or can Sunni Muslim expats stay? Maybe Shias too? Maybe even infidel Christians? But definitely not Hindus, they’re polytheistic, but wait, Indians make up the majority expat group,we can’t get rid of them…..hmmm…it gets confusing quickly doesn’t it? Especially when your country is so utterly beholden to expats at every level of society…..I think your fatuous wish will remain an idle fantasy long after you expire, give how much the (criminal) expats are relied upon for daily existence.
btw, I thought that in the real hardcore tribal times, you know, before oil and gas softened you all up, killing (other tribe members) and stealing (camels and sheep) were part of daily life? Please correct me if I’m wrong. Or is this just a shari’a interpretation of killing and stealing beyond my puny infidel understanding?
In the 80’s and 90’s we had all that was stated above (drivers, nannies, grocery shop clerks etc..) expats were counted on our hands that were in the average workforce we knew every lebaneese, egyptian, british, american etc.. household by name (other than hands on work like nannies and drivers) now we cant keep up from the vast majority. and these problems dont come from the higher level workforce. I’m pointing out construction workers specifically because most of them came from an environment full of illegal things such as drugs, gambling, drinking etc… not only that but I’ve heard about many killings between workers in the industrial areas because of gambling or even fighting for an internet cable because one person used it 5 minutes more than the other!
and when you talk about tribal times, again people were moving around the peninsula freely so thats another unconventional way of expats and locals! and Im not pushing on an expat free Qatar but a lower amount of expats in Qatar the expats that are threatening the peoples lives here.
I mean not too long ago a family friend went to the supermarket with his kids and his eldest didn’t want to go stayed behind, he left for 10 minutes and when he got back he found two expats in his home stealing his things and cut his eldest son in his abdomen, and from shock died of a heart attack! what do you think of that?
What do I think of that? Well, like most reasonable humans, I think that it is tragic, but this incident should not mean you extrapolate things to a perceived wider problem with ‘expats’….Qatar still has low rates of crime; your privileged life as a Qatari is almost always unthreatened, you can pretty much go about things as you have always done in the recent past. Fear and perception of crime is always way worse than actual crime. How many times previous to this incident had your friend been to the supermarket and nothing had happened? Thousands, I assume.
‘I’m pointing out construction workers specifically because most of them
came from an environment full of illegal things such as drugs, gambling,
drinking etc… not only that but I’ve heard about many killings
between workers in the industrial areas because of gambling or even
fighting for an internet cable because one person used it 5 minutes more
than the other!’
This quote says more about you than you could possibly imagine….firstly your assumption that ‘construction workers’ (a huge range of nationalities and experiences, including many from Pakistan and Bangladesh presumably- majority Muslim countries!) come from debauched societies….well, that’s not the case in Nepal or much of India with regards drinking, gambling etc…….it’s poverty and lies that drive them here, they don’t spend their days in Kathmandu or wherever p*ssing their money away on blackjack and coke, before deciding to come here! They’re desperate for work for them and their families. I come from a country with a lot of drinking, drugs and gambling but I’m not committing crime here….the connection is idiotic and shows your naivety and clearly the fact that you’ve never visited any of the places where ‘the construction workers’ come from. I’d suggest that DESPERATION may contribute to stupid crimes over things like internet access, because once again, the government isn’t enforcing laws on amenities and contracts. Seriously, I think your posts are spoofs sometimes, which doesn’t say much about your knowledge of the situation on the ground.
ok I stated a fact whether you like it or not construction workers have the highest crime rates in Qatar [ if i pointed out to one nationality then you’ll say that I’m stereotypical to the race but in general people who tend to commit crime are under the branch of construction workers] then comes all the other stuff.
and generally speaking most people coming from these environments tend to develop states of crime in a young age which develops through time until it becomes part of them or part of their habit so they are carrying a habit with them.
and now you’re saying walk freely as we are until the next crime strikes? hey I just gave a suggestion to contain this problem. where do you want to reach with this problem?
Is it the highest rate of crime as a percentage or merely by numbers? Easy to blame high crime on Expats when they make up 65-75% of the populace.
Try 85%. And of all the inane illogical things I have heard people say on this forum, “Only Qataris smoke at malls”, “Most women of X nationality are sluts”, etc. this “Expats are the cause of most / all crimes in Qatar” is one the top 5 worst ignorant blanket statements ever!
Do you think ‘construction workers’ would have ‘the highest crime rates’ if they were paid properly and given decent living conditions? I mean, none of them really want to come here, but they do because of the supposed attractive package for them and their families, but when that made-up package is not provided and anger sets in and the inept government does nothing to help them, but instead just massages its own image through things like buying the World Cup, what do you expect? I get angry and I’m well looked after!
‘and generally speaking most people coming from these environments tend
to develop states of crime in a young age which develops through time
until it becomes part of them or part of their habit so they are
carrying a habit with them.’
More generalized BS that really just needs highlighting, not commenting on. Any person with any kind of measure of intelligence and experience will see straight through this rubbish. Substitute ‘crime’ in you above quote with ‘ignorance/bias’ and maybe we could extrapolate to all who think like you?
Im sure if you had to live in the squalid conditions that they do, with incredibly poor pay, being transported round like an animal, rely on charity for a bar of soap and be denied access even to walk on the Corniche on your only day off!
You might understand why 5 mins on an internet cable when it is the only means to communicate with your family suddenly becomes a BIG deal!
Most crimes that construction workers commit are out of desperation, not that it seems you would understand that!
Small communities always tend to have lower crime rates, as most people wouldn’t steal from someone they know! As Doha grows crime will rise exponentially and is unavoidable.
I don’t doubt that there was far less crime 20yrs ago for this very reason!
But you saying there was none is laughable! More than likely it wasn’t allowed to be reported, Qatar is still very restrictive on letting negative news out even now!
so you’re saying its ok to commit crime such as killing innocent people if its an act of desperation?
No you are twisting my words, by crime of desperation it was pretty obvious I meant stealing things you need because you cant afford or access them!
I would never condone killing someone!
I hope I have misread you but you seem to have a worrying lack of empathy for your fellow man!
“ok I stated a fact whether you like it or not construction workers have the highest crime rates in Qatar”
So based on that I would guess that seeing as most Terrorists at the moment claim to be Muslim, You wouldn’t have a problem being singled out as a possible terrorist everywhere you go right?
Yeah thats what I thought!
“…these problems dont come from the higher level workforce…”
I just want to take this moment to point out that E-V-E-R-Y S-I-N-G-L-E TIME I have been followed (by car, on foot, etc.), it has been by a local man. Meanwhile, no construction worker (and I live in proximity to MANY) has ever, ever, ever hassled me or made me feel uncomfortable.
Although, I suppose that isn’t relevant to your statement if they’re not even contributing to the workforce…
That is exactly what my wife told me for 4 years.Many times she would be driving home at night,sometimes after work,sometimes after visiting friends.The later it was,the more chance she would be followed. Each time it would be a Qatari.Each time they would try and get her attention.Most times she could ignore them.A few times they were quite aggressive.Solution? Get a bigger and faster car and install a GO Pro Camera on dash to record those who think any women out alone at night is looking for a local to hang out with.Some nights when I knew she was late I would stay up,mobile handy and all ready to head out on a moments notice.
Well said and sadly so true. I’ve seen them shout and beckon women pushing prams.
in fairness it is not only Qatari men who bother women, from personal experienced i have been hassled by both Qatari men in cars following me as i walk home from work, in the light of day. As well as expats making suggestive noises in my direction, again in the light of day. One cannot judge one nationality from the other, if a man wants to hassle a female, no matter where you are, the female is going to be hassled. (to be clear i am not referring to devious acts like that supposedly to have happened to this poor girl, just simple annoying hassle)
See what I had to deal with when you used to make all these blanket statements about Qataris and how we are the cause of this or that 😉
actually I know from Qatari sources of Qatari tribes going to kill in Saudi for family fights. Maybe there was no stealing.
As Anon told you Disneyland is not and was not here! And to say that expats are related to crime you state real big BS. I wonder if you really believe what you say
Let’s stay on topic, please.
yes, Qatari s saying there was no crime when there were no expat maybe you should address this to Qatari. Who went off track?
qatar always has had crime. all places have varying levels at varying times.
true but our crime weren’t regarded as serious offenses like killing but were “naive” crimes such as pirated video tapes and taking an extra piece of gum and not paying for it.
really? or it was because there wasn’t much info circulating of like killings of women in families? or blood feud among tribes?
have you been to qatar?
it may have other issues but murder rate is very low.
people get murdered in many big cities, but doha is not one of them where it is a high rate.
Not sure why I received one down vote for this.. was it because I mentioned things that are best kept quiet??????
The next hearing for the American teacher who was killed is in November. We wrote a follow-up story about the ongoing trial months ago.
Good to know. I look forward to the report on the trial when it goes ahead, well unless you get excluded again as what happened in the Villagio trial. You can but try…
Very sad.
May she rest in peace and all thoughts and best wishes go to family and friends!
Doha maybe safer than most cities but it is still dangerous especially for ladies. Even in the daytime girls can’t walk the street without being followed and offered a “lift”. My wife has even had to scream at people in Carrefour to stop guys following her around once.
Yes Doha is safer than most, but don’t let it fool you into a false sense of security, please stay safe out there!
Unfortunately, because Qatar is safer than most countries, many expats let their guard down so much so that they start ignoring the most basic of safety rules. Like locking down your car and not leaving the keys inside. I’ve always done that.
We had a neighbor who’s car got stolen when it was parked outside at night with the keys inside. When I said he shouldn’t have left the keys in the car, an American friend relayed, “But it’s safe here, this doesn’t happen here.”!
Very good point. How many mothers outside schools and nurseries here leave the car running while going inside. I ask one lady once why she did it and she said she needed to keep the ac on or it would be too hot. There is no helping some people and I hope their children get a better education than their mothers.
Everybody in Doha leaves the engine running and the AC on during extremely hot weather. Car jacking is not a real problem, because sooner or later the car will turn-up in some deserted desert. You don’t leave anything valuable inside your car and there’s nothing left to steal.
Not everybody, I certainly don’t!
There has to be some incentive to take the car, even if there are no valuables to steal?
If I was daft enough, my first worry would be how many red traffic lights were run, in my name, while my car was mischievously ‘borrowed’?
Couldn’t agree more and hopefully thats the point that came across from my post!
I hope I didn’t sound like I was disagreeing with you; in fact, I especially agree with your point about the ladies needing to be extra careful. Especially if there at a bar or outside of one. There’s this wide spread perception among some men that women from certain nationalities are “easy” and promiscuous. Once one of these men puts his sight on you, it’s a done deal in his sick twisted mind.
Sadly, the attitude expressed by many people is that, “Well, if it weren’t for many of the women of that nationality acting like this, bad things wouldn’t happen to them.” 🙁
No didn’t think that at all don’t worry 🙂
And yes that attitude is very sad! And seems to be quite prevalent in the Gulf region unfortunately 🙁
Strange that I haven’t picked up any hint of this story in the British Press. Are they even aware of it? Doha News, can you get the word out. Without wishing to sound rude, the printed press here will probably stay silent so coverage from the British Press may be the only way to highlight this story and keep it alive until a conclusion of the investigation and maybe beyond
Looks like the story is already out there: http://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-10-14/fears-for-british-teacher-missing-in-doha/
It’s starting to appear everywhere now and it makes grim reading. It seems very obvious some very bad happened in Doha Saturday night
it’s on the front page of the Mirror http://www.mirror.co.uk/
Don’t speculate we don’t know what happened yet.
there has been alot of talk amongst her friends that she was last seen with some Qatari men leaving the night club, and the last text she sent explained how they were bringing her to the “wrong house”
Probably best to edit your comment until we know for certain if a certain nationality were involved, as it would have serious ramifications in the community. It would probably also explain the silence on the matter currently
Aren’t cases like this usually handled silently here?
Depends on nationality……
True. But I meant that the authorities here aren’t usually very forthcoming with facts about such cases, and it usually takes sometime before they release any information about what went on. Of course, if the case involves Qataris on both sides, it’s much less likely you’ll ever read about in the newspaper as it’s seen to be a private matter between the 2 families.
I remember when th English news papers used to report of all court cases and reading some of the Qatari on Qatari crime was quite brutal. (My favourite when the defendant claimed he only fired a warning shot at his brother and didn’t mean to shot him. The judge says that is not true as you shot him three times in the chest….)
They maybe four or five years ago the papers were told they couldn’t print the stories anymore as it made the locals look bad. Since then we only get bring expat crimes….
edited
It’s always sad when someone this young dies. It shows how anyone of us can go at anytime.
It’s best if people not make speculations. Foul play may not even be involved.
This is really scary if true.
No facts as of yet, so pure speculation at this point but from what has been reported so far it is very sad to say that the circumstances do look ominous “The 24-year-old was feared dead after a body was found on Monday evening”, I very much hope this is not the case though.
My heart felt condolences to the family and friends of Ms. Patterson.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/qatar/10378553/Missing-teacher-feared-dead-in-Doha.html
As more details of this story emerge the horrific and tragic events are becoming evident. This should be a wake up call to all of us, do not take the safety of you and your loved ones for granted. As many have pointed out, we often take things for granted as Qatar is generally safer than most countries but like the rest of the world it is not immune to crime and as the population increases so does the crime rate.
“Friends of primary school teacher Lauren Patterson, 24, said she was last seen at a nightclub in the capital, Doha, with two Qatari men, one of whom was an ex-boyfriend. A friend said the ex-boyfriend had since gone to Saudi Arabia and Doha police had taken the other man, who had a bruised lip, in for questioning. One close friend posted a message on Twitter saying: ‘Lauren was raped and brutally murdered. ‘Her body was found in the dumpsters behind La Cigale.’
The man who was arrested, a friend of Miss Patterson’s ex-boyfriend, claimed he got his bruised lip after a fight with a taxi driver.” He claims the driver had dropped Miss Patterson at the wrong address. Police searched the man’s apartment but he was later released.”
source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2458728/Lauren-Patterson-feared-dead-Qatar-returning-grandmothers-funeral-UK.html
excuse me, speculation comes when government is not able to deal with facts and with statements.
They lead to speculation. Look what happened when Villaggio was on fire. They shushed until too late. Sorry, this is not the way of handling facts.
You give a first statement to press, with further news release once they you gather facts. As stated by Ivan, can’t MOI get one person properly trained to be the public face?
By having everything hidden this misleads people to not understand the reality of the country, but hey, that’s what they want: they want you not to know!
I agree with you in part, however until the body has been officially identified by the next of kin neither the local government or the British Embassy will make an official announcement, that is standard practise throughout most countries when dealing with a death of a national outside the borders of their home of record. In addition even when the identity of the body has been confirmed any statement that is released will only confirm the identity and will state that an on-going investigation is under way to determine the circumstances and cause of death, again that is standard procedure. You cannot expect any government or official body to release a statement speculating on the cause of death or the circumstances surrounding the death until at least a preliminary official investigation has been completed, that is just unreasonable.
Sadly not surprised by this comment in the telegraph
‘Doha police said they could not confirm whether Miss Patterson had died, what had happened to her or the progress of their investigation.’
More deft press handling and pr skill. How hard is it to get one, just one government spokesperson trained to be the public face of the MOI and such? Here’s hoping that the next announcement they make is of an arrest.
If they have a body but cannot identify it for whatever reason, then they cannot confirm whether or not it is Ms. Patterson. They’re not big on giving details to the public, which leads only to people speculating!
It’s pretty safe to assume it is her, but they cannot formally announce it until the mother officially identifies the body. (Per the Mirror article, she is being flown out to Doha now)
When I first got to Doha, I thought it was a safe place… it is not, and precisely because crime stories hardly ever get out, we are led to believe it is a safe city. We do not know how Lauren Patterson died. Perhaps we never will. Bless her, my thoughts are with her family and friends, children and staff at NBS. But I would still like to say this: please warn your friends, advise them never to get on cabs alone… there are plenty of unreported rape cases and missing people in Doha… phillipino maids for example, have you ever noticed that they have their own transport deals, they never accept to be taken in “normal” taxis, because there have been a lot of women that get taken to the Industrial Area, etc, etc… No, it is not safe, get the word out. And we can talk about sociopaths and psychos but we can also speculate on how many men are here on 2, 3 year contracts, deprived of a sexual life, how many men grow up in a sexually repressive society… etc, etc. I got flashed in Hyatt Plaza car park last year, midday, pushing a babypram. This sort of thing happens everywhere in the world, but my shock was that I thought it would never happen in Qatar. I decided to go to the police, because there had been reports of a guy alluring children into his car in a nearby school. The police did not even keep my name and phone number. We should look out for eachother, that is why I am posting this today.
Your story is not atypical. Police and society do not take crimes against expat women here seriously at all.
For the family, this news must be devastating, more so as they would already be grieving the loss of the grandmother, my heart goes out to them.
Any professional investigation agency would be unable to provide many facts at this stage, rash conclusions would be far worse than any, inevitable, delay?
Judging by some of the UK press reports it appears there is no agreement on how many men the young woman left the scene with? Some witness reports claim two, others five, so even that is not clear. As to the nationality of the men, unless they were known to the witnesses then who can say for sure, I assume they would be in social clothing, not national dress? One suspect is reported to have fled to KSA?
Given the international ‘spotlight’ on the conduct of the authorities at the moment, they must ensure that a thorough investigation is carried out, and that any justice that ensues is applied without favour. If they don’t, the UK (and possibly the international) press/media will have a feeding frenzy.
My sincere condolences to the Patterson family.
It is actually best practice to use the media to generate lines of inquiry in these matters. The first 24 hours in an unexpected death investigation are crucial and a well executed and managed media strategy/plan has a part to play.
However, sadly, as a long time law enforcement professional I watch as people commit acts which if committed in the west, east and just about most other countries amount to serious crimes such as conduct endanger life, daily on the roads as the authorities watch, but don’t take enforcement action. In other places such behaviour would result in imprisonment, forfeiture of the vehicle and loss of licence for ten years, sadly here people just continue to die.
So, if the police do not intercept and prosecute a driver who is placing others around him in danger of serious injury or death, or simply enforce the law on seat belts (especially children), I don’t hold out much hope for justice for this poor girl and her family. Condolences to her family.
Secondly the under reporting of crime in this country would be a concerning figure if ever professionally researched and reported. The world over, expat/immigrant communities under report crime due to , fear of the system, fear of police, fear of being accused of something themselves, being illegal in status, etc. Given the percentage of expats here, the perception of safety may be high, but one really wonders on the reality. Not that I am saying it is high, a simple look around indicates such, but I would suggest it is higher then portrayed as it is in most countries.
“It is actually best practice to use the media to generate lines of inquiry in these matters” – I agree, the usage of non-traditional methods such as social media to assist with investigations is becoming more and more prevalent as showcased in the investigation into the recent Boston Marathon bombings.
Every place in the world has its problems; while in most Western countries the reckless driving we see here may be punished more severely, many of those countries have other more serious issues like organised crime (mafia), gang violence, drug wars, street riots, etc. All of which are much worse than just about anything that goes here.
Why, just a few months ago in Florida; not only was George Zimmerman found not guilty of any wrong doings in his killing of 17 year old Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman was allowed to keep the gun he used to kill Martin with. The same gun he probably used later when he attacked his father-in-law and his wife at the father-in-law’s house. And this is but one example.