HOLLIS—A 26-year old missing Hollis woman, whose family received a text message suggesting that she had been killed, was found alive and well in Texas — and may have been on the run to avoid an arranged marriage, sources said.
Her brother Gary Atwal, 24, however, dismissed the notion that Kaur was fleeing an arranged marriage, saying: "My two older sisters have had love marriages...all I can tell you is that this [disappearance] has nothing to do with arranged marriage."
Kaur disappeared Sunday from her home on 198th Street at 8 p.m, telling her parents she was going to volunteer at a Brooklyn homeless shelter, cops said.
Kaur never returned that night but her sister received a cryptic text message an hour and half after she disappeared.
According to published reports, the text read: “The girl with this phone is dead was smiling.”
Kaur's brother said it was not clear who sent the text.
"We don't think it's her...but we can't say for sure," he said.
When Kaur went missing, the police also looked into the possibility of the 26-year old joining a cult, as she had sold a lot of her belongings on eBay, the Daily News said.
However, her brother denied the "cult" theory saying his sister was "very religious" and went to Austin to pray at a Sikh temple (a Gurudwara).
"It's Sikhism," he said, referring to the family's religion. "There is no cult in Sikhism."
The family said they had not yet had a chance to speak with Kaur herself, but were making arrangements to bring her back home from Austin.
