Francine Tate

In about a month's time, three Wisconsin women went missing -- Kelly Nolan, Mahalia Xiong, and Francine Tate.

Sadly, Kelly Nolan was found murdered.

Yesterday, Mahalia Xiong's car was pulled from the Fox River. A woman's body found inside is likely to be that of Mahalia.

Police are saying that there's no link between those two cases.

[Madison police spokesman Joel] DeSpain confirmed that detectives for the two agencies had compared notes -- standard procedure for such cases -- but found no connection and no great similarity between the two, apart from that they were both young women in college.

The idea that a serial killer could be responsible for both incidents has been mentioned on a national cable news crime show and a local radio program.

DeSpain said he has been contacted several times in the past week and has always said police don't believe the two cases are related.

The third missing woman, Francine Tate, was found alive on Wednesday.

It appears that no foul play was involved in her disappearance.

Tate just left.

Steve Tate says he still doesn 't know why his wife disappeared for more than a week after leaving a prayer meeting July 17.

Instead of going home, Francine Tate just "got on (Highway) 51 " and "she just kept driving north, " he said, eventually reaching the Vilas County town of Phelps. She stayed there without contacting anyone and with her cell phone off for eight days -- prompting a huge search effort by law enforcement, relatives and friends as well as national media attention -- until a state Department of Natural Resources warden found her Wednesday.

"This is not Francine, " Steve Tate said. "I don 't fully understand it yet. " The only explanation he could offer was that she is dealing with problems that were "mental, physical and spiritual" and that she wanted to do some reflection and evaluation of her life.

It's wonderful news that Tate is OK, at least physically.

It's news that the family and friends of Kelly Nolan and Mahalia Xiong prayed to hear about their missing loved one.

I think when the Tate case is juxtaposed with the Kelly Nolan and Mahalia Xiong cases, it seems that much more disturbing that Tate knew people were searching for her but didn't bother to let anyone know that she was safe.

Tate has some mental problems. She has her issues to deal with, whatever they are; but it doesn't appear that she's certifiably insane.

She knew what she was doing.

Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney also said she was having emotional problems and "needed a break. " She had resigned from teaching at Abundant Life Christian School this spring, which surprised her husband.

In between prayer and meditation, Tate would go to a library to read, which is where she saw an article about the search. But Steve Tate said he 's still unclear why she didn 't contact anyone or turn her cell phone on.

"If the warden hadn 't found her, she would still be out there, " Steve Tate said.

...Tate slept in her car and rationed her food because she had only a limited amount of cash, Steve Tate said. "She 's struggling ... embarrassed. " His wife loves her friends and family, but "the one thing she loves more is God, " he said, stressing she isn 't a religious fanatic.

Officials said the cost of the search and investigation wasn 't available Thursday and probably won 't be for about a week. Among other efforts, police and volunteers spent two days last week searching Token Creek County Park north of Madison for signs of Tate.

The cost is "not relevant, " Mahoney said. "Nothing was placed on the back burner because of this case. "

Tate is struggling emotionally, so I don't want to be hard-hearted; but she should be embarrassed.

She did a terribly selfish thing. She admits to knowing that people were searching for her yet she did nothing to alleviate the concerns of her family or halt the search.

Tate is a troubled soul. She needs to be treated with compassion, but she also needs to be held accountable for causing her family to suffer and not putting end to the efforts of volunteers to find her.

This reminds me of Jennifer Wilbanks, the runaway bride.

Wilbanks' case was worse in that she reported that she was kidnapped. Tate didn't file a false report or make false statements to authorities, but she did let law enforcement officials continue their search for her when she could have put an end to it.

At the very least, Tate is guilty of extreme thoughtlessness and selfishness.

Hopefully, she'll get the help she needs to deal with her problems. Hopefully, she'll realize how wrong she was to do what she did. Then her case will have a truly happy ending.

It's so heartbreaking that Kelly Nolan didn't have a happy ending, and Mahalia Xiong probably won't either.