A hospital chaplain who starred in a Channel 4 documentary is missing, with police growing increasingly concerned for her welfare.
Katherine Watson, 50, was last seen in the Heaton Road area, Newcastle, at about 1pm on Thursday.
“We’re growing increasingly concerned for her welfare,” Northumbria Police said.
“Searches are ongoing to locate Katherine, who is described as a white woman, around 5ft 6ins in height, of slim build, with short light grey hair.”
She was seen wearing a green hat, with dark trousers and a dark hooded top and carrying a back pack. She has a number of tattoos on her arms, as well as military tattoo on her chest.
Ms Watson has links to the Heaton and Jesmond areas of Newcastle, but the force said she could have travelled further afield.
Also known as Reverend Captain Katie Watson, she joined the army in her late teens, serving in Bosnia in the 1990s and as part of the Royal Military Police.
“Once you have seen genocide first-hand on the streets of a European country, there is nothing left in the world that can faze you after that,” she told the Church Times in 2022, as the Geordie Hospital documentary was first aired on Channel 4.
“I have seen the worst of humanity and I have seen, and continue to see, the very best of it.”
She has worked at the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for more than 16 years and was made head of chaplaincy in 2020.
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Channel 4’s documentary Geordie Hospital was a six-part series that filmed hospital staff through a shift, featuring a cast including porters, surgeons, dental nurses and chaplains.
Speaking about her role in the show, Ms Watson said: “We only have two things to offer, the gifts of time and presence, but we give them whole-heartedly.”
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There has been an outpouring of support online for Ms Watson following the news she is missing.
“She baptised our baby boy when he passed away at birth and presided over his funeral,” one person wrote on X. “She’s such a wonderful person who gave us unwavering support through our darkest hours.”
Another said: “The compassion and care you gave me and my family when our mum passed last year was a tremendous blessing and support.
“The kindness you gave when we needed it the most to see mum in the chapel at the RVI was above and beyond. Hoping for your safe return home.”