A CHURCH has paid tribute to one of their oldest congregation members who was found dead in a field four days after going missing.

Catherine Carlin, 93, went missing on November 30 and was discovered close to Mount Vernon Hospital, in Rickmansworth Road, Northwood.

Mrs Carlin had lived in Windmill Hill, Ruislip Manor, and also attended Sacred Heart Church in Pembroke Road, for more than 40 years.

The parish priest, Father Michael Johnston, said: "Cathy was a well known and popular member of our congregation.

"Her faith and the church here was at the very centre of her life. She came each morning to the mass and again each evening to prayers throughout the year.

"Many people knew her and visited her from the church so she was rarely alone.

"She loved people to check on her and had many friends and she was always very hospitable.

"In her younger days she had come from Ireland and trained as a nurse. She worked for many years at Whittington Hospital in north London and those vocational skills of care and concern for others was very much part of her life too.

"In the days when she went missing the congregation here were in shock and prayed daily that she might be found safely.

"We are now praying that she has found rest in God who was so much part of her life."

Mrs Carlin's funeral was due to be held at the church yesterday (Tuesday), followed by burial next to her husband at Northwood Cemetery in Chestnut Avenue, Northwood.

An inquest is due to take place to confirm the cause of death, which is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.