CA CA - Ashley Higgins, 19, Costa Mesa, 6 Nov 1982

[Gardener1850]

Ashley Standish Higgins
Orange County, California
19 year old white female

Height: 62
Weight: 120-130

Hair: Blond/Strawberry
Eyes: Brown

Distinctive features as described below:
C shaped scar on knee
scar on chin with plastic surgery correction

two front teeth are false


Ashley Higgins was reported missing by her mother who resided in Costa Mesa CA at the time of her disappearance.

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/17651/

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=4]Oct 2015 Article:

'I want to see my daughter before I die'[/h]

Martha Durkee’s daughter Ashley Higgins vanished from Costa Mesa in 1982.

Martha is still looking for her.

“If it rains, I think, ‘Is she warm? Is she dry? Is she in a safe place?” says Durkee, who is now 80 and walks with a cane. “There are certain dishes I still won’t cook because it was her favorite. It goes on and on.”
Ashley would be 52 years old now — if she is alive. She was 19 when she disappeared without a trace.
“I still want to find my daughter” Durkee said. “Maybe she has children? I haven’t given up hope.”

Forensic professionals and law enforcement officers from about 15 agencies throughout Orange County were on hand to open missing persons files, update existing files and perform DNA cheek swabs on family members to put into a national data base.

Durkee and her son, a retired Tustin patrol officer and Ashley’s older brother, gave cheek swabs.
“For years we searched and searched,” said Durkee, wearing a neck brace, a butterfly barrette holding back her white hair. “We hired detectives. I got so desperate I used to run past little blond girls at the shopping malls to see if the face was her.”

Higgins was about 5-foot-2, with blond hair and brown eyes. She weighed about 120 pounds. She had just graduated from Newport Harbor High the year before and had her own apartment in Costa Mesa.

One day in October, 1982, Durkee and her daughter went to a movie together. A few days later her daughter was just gone. Ashley’s pet dog and cockatiel were found alone in her apartment. Police suspected foul play but never had any leads.

Durkee said that for years she awaited the arrival of 2002, holding out hope that her daughter might come walking through the door when it arrived. Before she disappeared, Ashley had been told she would inherit about $100,000 when she turned 40. And she turned 40 in 2002.

But 2002 came and went.

“I want to see my daughter before I die,” Durkee said. “I’m just out of places to look.”

http://behindthebadgeoc.com/cities/oc/want-see-daughter-die

 

[sluethermac]

not sure why my link was deleted. its the same Ashley Higgins, read the about me and look at the photos. Her brother created the page, was just trying to help.

 

[Gardener1850]

not sure why my link was deleted. its the same Ashley Higgins, read the about me and look at the photos. Her brother created the page, was just trying to help.

I'm not sure what you linked, but family member facebook pages are not usually allowed (unless mods give permission first). If that's not what it was try sending your link to a mod in a private conversation and ask if it can be posted. They are human and we all make mistakes. They will usually explain in a private conversation if it's something not allowed. I'm not a mod, but you can usually see a list of which ones are online in the upper right hand corner. Thanks for trying to help with cold cases Sleuthermac.

 

[insearchoflight]

Ashley Standish Higgins – The Charley Project

 

[jinger]

So wait... did she disappear in Vegas? The friend just had no idea where she went? She left her dog at home while she went to vegas?

 

[Gardener1850]

So wait... did she disappear in Vegas? The friend just had no idea where she went? She left her dog at home while she went to vegas?

Sounds fishy, doesn't it? Why go to Vegas with a friend and separate? And why would her friend just come home without her? I wonder if they have evidence of Ashley actually being in Vegas.

 

[ADKGemini]

Added to Charley Project: Ashley Standish Higgins – The Charley Project

Details of Disappearance
Higgins was last seen in Costa Mesa, California on November 6, 1982. She had graduated from Newport Harbor High School a year earlier and had an apartment in Costa Mesa. When she disappeared, she left her pet dog and cockatiel behind at her apartment.

Higgins and a female friend had gone to Las Vegas, Nevada and then separated. Her friend returned to California without her, and said she didn't know Higgins's whereabouts or that she hadn't returned home. She has never been heard from again.

Before her disappearance, Higgins was told she would inherit approximately $100,000 when she turned forty. Her fortieth birthday was in 2002, but Higgins never stepped forward to claim the money. Her disappearance remains unsolved and foul play is suspected.


The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[silvernblack]

Very good point. That NAMUS website should mention the Vegas angle. It should be mentioned in all of the "missing" websites... that is a major point to mention.

Sounds fishy, doesn't it? Why go to Vegas with a friend and separate? And why would her friend just come home without her? I wonder if they have evidence of Ashley actually being in Vegas.

 

[insearchoflight]

Sounds fishy, doesn't it? Why go to Vegas with a friend and separate? And why would her friend just come home without her? I wonder if they have evidence of Ashley actually being in Vegas.

I’ll try to give some insight. I am not a verified insider but I am a local to the area. The friend she traveled to Vegas with is an active anti sex trafficking advocate and a victim of childhood sex trafficking. She was able to escape and now gives testimonies about her and Ashley’s story.

Her and Ashley took a bus to Vegas to visit Ashley’s “boyfriend”. Upon meeting him the friend freaked out because he reminded her of the man who had victimized her as a child. She refused to hang out with them in Vegas as planned and instead wandered the Vegas streets. She told Ashley that she would meet her in two days time back at the bus to return home. She thought maybe she was being overly paranoid. Ashley didn’t show up to return home but the friend just figured she was staying with the boyfriend. She was after all an adult. The friend was soon arrested back at home for running away (she was a minor and ran away to Vegas with Ashley). She didn’t realize until way later that Ashley was even missing.

I really wish there were more media about Ashley, there is literally one article. This is the oldest unsolved missing person case in Orange County, California.

 

[insearchoflight]

Update on the Missing Ashley Higgins Facebook:

Ashley Higgins

 

[insearchoflight]

A new story on Ashley’s case includes a lot more information than was ever available. Shared by the Missing Ashley Higgins Facebook page: Ashley Higgins

The full story:
Groomed & Trafficked – The Ashley Higgins Disappearance

 

[sluethermac]

A new story on Ashley’s case includes a lot more information than was ever available. Shared by the Missing Ashley Higgins Facebook page: Ashley Higgins

The full story:
Groomed & Trafficked – The Ashley Higgins Disappearance

Why suppress that information until now? Her brother, a former LEO, suspected she was a victim of Trafficking and nobody has been charged or listed as a suspect in her case, especially the roommate?! Why not include that on her charley project page?! I'm starting to believe theres a correlation between trafficking and lack of information provided. A 19 year old girl is missing ,and all we're given is three, two sentenced paragraphs on her disappearance on charley project. Too many teens and children are hit with the "few details available in his/her case" bug. And the majority of those hit with that bug aren't listed as missing on any other website except NamUs and Charley Project. Perhaps LE leaves omits information so people will give up looking for the individual?

 

[insearchoflight]

It’s infuriating. She was written off as a runaway right from the start.

There was never a missing person report filed in Las Vegas. Only in Costa Mesa, California. Even though she went missing from Las Vegas, Nevada.

I hope this new information will bring forward individuals who knew Ashley, or her boyfriend, or her roommate at the time.

 

[theshadow45]

Ashley has been missing for 37 years today.

 

[Gardener1850]

Ashley's current NAMUS link: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping for Ashley, today is her birthday.

 

[insearchoflight]

Hoping one day this thread can be marked as FOUND. Ashley deserves to be found

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping, the 38th anniversary of Ashley’s disappearance passed recently.

 

[insearchoflight]

Does anyone think this picture looks like Ashley?

from a photo found in accused killer’s apartment in California 1980s

Do You Know These Women? Police Ask Public to Help Identify 21 Photos Found in Home of Accused Killer