CINDY Thompson’s first husband ran off with someone he met on the Internet.

But on a three-month holiday to the UK in 1996, to get over her traumatic divorce, she met husband-to-be Russell Bowden within hours of getting off the plane.

Mr Bowden was living in Oxford at the time, and the couple tied the knot after first meeting at a cricket club barbecue in London.

After settling in Bicester, they moved to the US and now live in Dallas, Texas.

The couple’s whirlwind romance was featured in the Oxford Mail in 1997, and now she has been in touch with the paper again for permission to get her precious newspaper cuttings scanned.

Now living in Dallas, Texas, with Mr Bowden and their two sons, Mrs Bowden, 45, said: “The stories in the Oxford Mail were about how I met my husband on my arrival in the UK from America.

“After 16 years, the articles are becoming a little yellowed and rough around the edges.

“I would like to scan the articles in order to preserve them for my family.

“I tried to take them into a FedEx/Kinko’s facility, here, in Dallas but they were saying that I needed to have permission in order to scan them.

“Since living in Dallas, I was an executive director to the British American Business Council and in 2005 had the honour of hosting the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester at a gala.

“I’ve had the honour of working with Gordon Jago, a former coach for Queen’s Park Rangers, at the Dallas Cup, an international youth soccer tournament.

“And my sons play baseball for the British Baseball Association, since they have dual citizenship.”

Mrs Bowden added: “The stories in the Oxford Mail bring back happy memories of when Russ and I first met.

“I came to England to heal my mind, body and spirit and ended up in a whirlwind romance.

“We still visit Oxfordshire from time to time to see friends when we get the chance.”

Mrs Bowden was 28 when she met her husband-to-be and he was 36. Now he is 52.

After they moved to a new home in The Bramblings, Bicester, their first son Austin was born in December, 1997. Austin is now 15 and their second son Gavin is 13.

Mr Bowden is an international consultant while Mrs Bowden works for the district’s college and career readiness department.

Referring to her romance, Mrs Bowden told the Oxford Mail at the time: “I feel like I’ve lived my whole 28 years in six months. It’s been unbelievably happy.”