Disappearance in 1926

Christie met her husband, Archibald Christie, just before World War I. They married before he was stationed and she served as a nurse. In August 1926, he asked Christie for a divorce, as he had fallen in love with Nancy Neele. The two fought on December 3, and later that evening, Christie disappeared from her home. Her car was later found at Newlands Corner with an expired driving licence and clothes.

Her disappearance caused a public outcry, and William Joynson-Hicks, home secretary, pressured the police. A newspaper offered a £100 reward. Thousands of police and volunteers searched for her with the assistance of aeroplanes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to help locate her, and the disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times. She was found 10 days later on December 14 at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Yorkshire, registered as Mrs. Neele (the surname of her husband's lover). Afterwards, she departed for her sister’s residence to hide from inquiries.

Christie's autobiography does not mention her disappearance, and doctors, biographers, and researchers have long speculated on why she left and assumed another identity. The public reaction at the time was mostly negative, assuming the disappearance a publicity stunt or attempt to frame her husband for murder.