WA WA - Cristina Ase, 61, Vancouver, 26 Mar 2024

[azure]

One theory I have is that she had someone drive her to the airport (or possibly bus terminal or train station), and she asked that person to return her car.

That's an optimistic theory, but I feel like in this day and age, you'd just Uber. Or leave your car in the airport lot if you didn't plan to come back.

 

[Curiousobserver]

I agree with the posters regarding the car- someone returned it, they knew where she lived, and they wanted the family to find it. This is an important clue. A random criminal wouldn't know and wouldn't care.

Police have released an unusual amount of information regarding her phone location information on the day she went missing. Police have surmised that she was in the same place on the other occasions where she was late for work. This may or may not be correct. LE also didn't release the house or houses where she appeared to be going to and from for some reason but this is likely known to them.

Based on what the news has quoted her co-workers as having said about her personality it seems likely she was helping someone, perhaps getting them off to school or giving them a ride to work, less likely but possible she was planning her escape from something or involved in some sort of drug activity.

 

[Occam's Zebra]

I don't see any good reason to return the car unless whoever returned it lives nearby. I suppose the thinking could have been "If I/we return the car, it'll look like she never left, or she came home normally." But the phone tracking throws that way off.

If the car is left elsewhere, things look clearly hinky. But if the car is at home, it could look like all is well. I would say this person/these people didn't know Cristina's work schedule... but they did know where she lived. But they could have found that info on her driver's license.

 

[charminglane]

I've seen many people in the medical profession wearing smartwatches.
That has not been mentioned in this case.
I wonder if C wears/wore one?
I am of the opinion that CA was giving rides to someone.

 

[Curiousobserver]

I don't see any good reason to return the car unless whoever returned it lives nearby. I suppose the thinking could have been "If I/we return the car, it'll look like she never left, or she came home normally." But the phone tracking throws that way off.

If the car is left elsewhere, things look clearly hinky. But if the car is at home, it could look like all is well. I would say this person/these people didn't know Cristina's work schedule... but they did know where she lived. But they could have found that info on her driver's license.

Well that is another way to look at it too- if someone returned it and they didn't live nearby, how did they get back to where they do live? Are we looking at 2 people, or are we looking at someone who lives close to her home? And if they live close to her home, why was everyone down at the park 20 minutes away all the time? And why return the vehicle the day after she was reported missing, when people might have been on the look out and you may get caught? Could she have been picking someone up who lived nearby to her and driving them down to that park area for some reason and that person returned the car? To be honest, the car being returned is something that most often happens in DV situations (MOO).

 

[kccorona]

Police have surmised that she was in the same place on the other occasions where she was late for work. This may or may not be correct.

I was under the impression LE confirmed she was at the same place or general location the other mornings she was late but eventually made it to work. Is this incorrect? Or, if not already confirmed by LE, wouldn’t they be able to do this in the same way they were able to confirm her movements the day of her disappearance?

 

[Curiousobserver]

I was under the impression LE confirmed she was at the same place or general location the other mornings she was late but eventually made it to work. Is this incorrect? Or, if not already confirmed by LE, wouldn’t they be able to do this in the same way they were able to confirm her movements the day of her disappearance?

I read the story differently, that they knew she was 20 minutes away on the day she disappeared and assumed she was in the same place because she called in about 20 minutes after she left home each other time. They don't know, or at least are not releasing any actual GPS data from those other days.

Police noted in the documents that Cristina texted her boss on both those days about 20 minutes after leaving home. The SE Foster exit of I-205 is about a 20-minute drive from Cristina’s apartment. Therefore, police believed she had been to the area of Glenwood Park before the day of her disappearance.

Police: Vancouver woman lied about her whereabouts several times before disappearance

The details of a search warrant, revealed in court documents obtained by FOX 12, disclose new details about the disappearance of a Vancouver woman.

www.kptv.com

 

[grannygates]

I agree with the posters regarding the car- someone returned it, they knew where she lived, and they wanted the family to find it. This is an important clue. A random criminal wouldn't know and wouldn't care.

Police have released an unusual amount of information regarding her phone location information on the day she went missing. Police have surmised that she was in the same place on the other occasions where she was late for work. This may or may not be correct. LE also didn't release the house or houses where she appeared to be going to and from for some reason but this is likely known to them.

Based on what the news has quoted her co-workers as having said about her personality it seems likely she was helping someone, perhaps getting them off to school or giving them a ride to work, less likely but possible she was planning her escape from something or involved in some sort of drug activity.

IMO having LE release all that cellphone data and suggesting CA lied was a strategic act.

 

[slowpoke]

I was under the impression LE confirmed she was at the same place or general location the other mornings she was late but eventually made it to work. Is this incorrect? Or, if not already confirmed by LE, wouldn’t they be able to do this in the same way they were able to confirm her movements the day of her disappearance?

WestLinnTidings.com article:

“It is unknown where she was in the intervening time between leaving her home and arriving at work at 0830,” the affidavit read. “It is worth noting, however, that she messaged her employer on each occasion approximately 20 minutes after (leaving) home.”

—and—

“The SE Foster Rd exit of I-205 is an exactly 20-minute drive from Cristina’s home (per Google Maps),” the affidavit stated. “It is likely therefore that she visited the area of Glenwood Park Portland before the day of her disappearance.”

(bolded by me)
——

Those two statements from the affidavit indicates, to me:
That on the prior occasions she did make it to work at 0830.
And the use of the word “likely” means it is an educated guess that whatever Cristina was doing the day she disappeared was where she was driving to on the other occasions, based on the pattern.
JMO

 

[Cedars]

[Those two statements from the affidavit indicates, to me:
That on the prior occasions she did make it to work at 0830.
And the use of the word “likely” means it is an educated guess that whatever Cristina was doing the day she disappeared was where she was driving to on the other occasions, based on the pattern.
JMO

RSBM
I agree.

I think LE can request tower pings from those earlier ocassions but they need probable cause (they were able to get the last location of her phone, because she was missing for a certain number of days)

That LE info you quoted (same exact time, etc), IMO, is precisely what would go into the search warrant to get tower dumps for a the specified time frames on all 4 of those days.

So not just her phone pings, but all other pings in the area.

Also search warrants for video footage.

So, IMO, they've had to go through that data to find leads, and they don't want to alert anyone about it.

JMO

 

[sasha17]

IMO having LE release all that cellphone data and suggesting CA lied was a strategic act.

Curious! A strategic act for what purpose?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Circles and circles. Nothing but circles.
So frustrating

 

[carbuff]

That's an optimistic theory, but I feel like in this day and age, you'd just Uber. Or leave your car in the airport lot if you didn't plan to come back.

Not if you wanted to get the vehicle back to your spouse in good shape and leave less clue about where you had really gone.

 

[tealrose]

For people asking how someone who returned the car might travel somewhere else... it's easy.

There is public transportation in Vancouver, and it's even relatively easy to use public transportation to travel right back over the river into Portland.

And it can be done anonymously, using cash or (at least on the Portland side) transit cards that don't have names attached to them.

 

[tealrose]

IMO having LE release all that cellphone data and suggesting CA lied was a strategic act.

I don't feel they released anywhere near as much info as they have access to.

LE might be trying to make someone nervous, sure. But if so... that's another sign those barking up the "random homeless person" tree are way, way, off.

 

[swanniee11]

IDK, I would think at this point LE would have said something/anything if they have something. IMO.

 

[Cedars]

Not if you wanted to get the vehicle back to your spouse in good shape and leave less clue about where you had really gone.

However:
"there is probable cause to believe that Cristina’s sudden disappearance is related to a serious crime or imminently dangerous medical emergency.”

Police tracked missing Vancouver woman’s cellphone through SE Portland

The Vancouver Police Department and Crime Stoppers of Oregon are asking for the public’s assistance in locating 61-year-old Cristina Ase, who has been missing since March 26. Police have not identifie

www.columbian.com

 

[whinewiththegravy]

In addition to the driver living in the area or that a third party could have removed them (via public or private transport), other possibilities include:

that they work nearby

have family or friends who live in walking distance (or have access to other nearby temporary accommodations)

are otherwise familiar with the area from past experience

were picked up a short distance later by CA herself using another, unknown vehicle (this would depend on CA being familiar enough with streetside CCTV/doorbell cams to know or suspect that that stretch of street parking can be viewed on camera and also wanting to avoid those cameras)

Motivations for doing this invariably have to include, however unlikely, that they believed they were doing CA a favor or that she compensated them in some way for doing so. Pathologically helpful, compliant people—allergic to rocking certain rickety, water-logged boats to the extent that they skip work or tell white lies or lies by omission to their partners to keep others afloat—sometimes attract very likeminded, rather credulous folk.

This, I suppose, is the best case but least likely scenario. No real foul play. Just parlor games from people that may lack street smarts. Probably not what happened, but it’s useful to remind ourselves how people pleasers process/collapse under their many burdens in sometimes radically passive, conflict-avoidant fashion.

Any road, I wonder what specific events the police have in mind when alluding to a spectrum that spans “serious crime” to “imminently dangerous medical emergency,” involving a car interior doused in cleaning liquid. I’m guessing this isn’t meant to be taken literally, that they know to some extent she has been victimized, and the “medical emergency” is improbable CYA hedging.

 

[whinewiththegravy]

re “medical emergency” coupled with what looks like third-party involvement

Possibilities are overdose, non-traditional medicine mishap, self harm? Other scenarios?

Are any of these even likely, given what is publicly known of Cristina and her life?

 

[azure]

re “medical emergency” coupled with what looks like third-party involvement

Possibilities are overdose, non-traditional medicine mishap, self harm? Other scenarios?

Are any of these even likely, given what is publicly known of Cristina and her life?

I'd add MH crisis or confusion (dementia, med change, any number of medical issues can cause confusion) to the list. And I guess the possibility she had a serious illness she didn't tell anyone about that caused her to walk away or self-harm must be considered.