during someone's absence
She selected him to lead the party in her absence.
When he returned, he discovered that in his absence she had decided that their relationship was over.
She asked her brother to look after their parents in her absence.
In his father's absence, he ran the factories.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Absent
absence
absent
absent without leave
absentee
absenteeism
AWOL
during someone's absence
gap
go AWOLidiom
in absentia
in the absence of someone/something
missing person
negative
no-show
non-attendance
non-attender
not anywhere to be foundidiom
tease
unaccounted for
unrepresented