ND Heather Caras, 39,vehicle found abandoned with keys in the ignition, disappearance described as out of character, Linton North Dakota, 24 Jan 25.

[amiefurr]

Heather Caras is missing from her home in Linton, North Dakota, since 11:00 AM on Friday, January 24, 2025. The next day, her vehicle was found abandoned on Beaver Bay with the keys in the ignition. She may go by the last name "Wagoner" and she has ties in Colorado, Utah, Nevada and North Carolina. She is described to have brown hair and blue eyes. Heather has two boys who need her, one of whom has special needs and requires constant care. It is completely out of character for her to leave them behind.

MISSING Heather Caras
Location: Linton, ND
Last Seen: January 24, 2025
Age: 39
Height: 5'4"
⚖ Weight: 125

If you have any information, please contact the Emmons County Sheriff at 701-254-4411

Heather Caras Database Entry: Have you seen Heather Caras?

Only people with official Missing Person Reports with police departments are posted, you can view their database entry to view the source of the information, as well as find useful tools to help find the missing. Every missing person in our database is checked daily for updates.

#Missing #MissingPeopleInAmerica #FindHeatherCaras #Help #North_Dakota

Established in 2018, all missing people are sourced, you can view the official source link for Heather Caras in their database entry above.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0ZivTa5aNMXXYhv34T11mBDrRjho8BW2YhZnFA46V53y71QWGpsjhfQeC3QNYyQx8l&id=100064369042472

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I am one of Heathers oldest friends, I have known her for 25 years. I know LE thinks she just left on her own, but almost every single one of her oldest and longest friends disagrees. You’ve likely seen my Facebook reels regarding her. I have a private message from her approximately one month prior to her disappearance where we were discussing a mutual friends and what might have led them to kicking out their teenager. Her words were I could never and would drop them off to their dad. I can post a screenshot later. I’ve been working with two of her other friends one being the friend who has known her the longest(also went to school with this friend as well as Heather) and the other was her rock while she lived in Colorado. They will also try to get on here when time allows and discuss what they know of her as well. Someone else asked about guardianship that she was granted. Her son is autistic and has special needs, is unable to care for himself. He turned 18 last year and that is why she had to go through the guardianship process to be able to handle his medical etc because he legally can’t give POA since he is unable to understand. The boys are with their father now and he’s trying to go through the same process but may prove costly since it was established out of the state he’s in and where the boys were born as welll as where their mother mostly grew up.

 

[amiefurr]

Heather Caras is missing from her home in Linton, North Dakota, since 11:00 AM on Friday, January 24, 2025. The next day, her vehicle was found abandoned on Beaver Bay with the keys in the ignition. She may go by the last name "Wagoner" and she has ties in Colorado, Utah, Nevada and North Carolina. She is described to have brown hair and blue eyes. Heather has two boys who need her, one of whom has special needs and requires constant care. It is completely out of character for her to leave them behind.

MISSING Heather Caras
Location: Linton, ND
Last Seen: January 24, 2025
Age: 39
Height: 5'4"
⚖ Weight: 125

If you have any information, please contact the Emmons County Sheriff at 701-254-4411

<Admin note: Approved links have been provided in subsequent posts>

Waiting to get verified so I can discuss, known her for more than half my life

 

[FromGermany1]

My thoughts were, that probably the father of the child wanted to obtain guardianship and HC tried to retain her guardianship after the child's 18th birthday. I wondered, why a parent would do that: obtain guardianship now, if he never had it before.
I understand, that it maybe HC ./. state re the guardianship.

 

[bluestsocks]

My thoughts were, that probably the father of the child wanted to obtain guardianship and HC tried to retain her guardianship after the child's 18th birthday. I wondered, why a parent would do that: obtain guardianship now, if he never had it before.
I understand, that it maybe HC ./. state re the guardianship.

It really doesn’t appear her request for guardianship was opposed. It seems like a GAL was hired to assess the best interests of the person in question which is fairly standard and then she was granted guardianship and filed some standard financial accounting. This is very normal for the parent or loved one of a child with severe disabilities of some kind once they turn 18. If the child does not have capacity to sign a power of attorney due to disability but is considered an emancipated adult, you have to seek guardianship if you want to be able to do things like coordinate government benefits for them, make payments on their behalf, make legal decisions for them, schedule doctors appointments, etc. I don’t see anything on the docket that isn’t fairly bang on standard for this type of situation and I don’t see any persons who appeared to be intervenors requesting guardianship instead. It’s possible that wasn’t docketed in a way we can see, but unlikely.

You don’t need guardianship to do this kind of thing for children under 18 because they’re children. A custody order or a birth certificate naming you parent of a minor child or even a power of attorney from the biological parents will allow you to do all these things but that power ends the second the person is legally an adult, even if they don’t have the mental or physical capacity of an adult.

 

[Sillybilly]

WS member @amiefurr has now been verified as a long time friend of Heather's. Posts that were removed pending verification have been reinstated.

Verified members are not required to provide links to what they state as fact about a case. As always, please treat our verified member with respect at all times.

Welcome amiefurr and Thank You for being here to discuss your friend's disappearance, and thanks to all others who are here to try to determine what may have happened to Heather.

Sillybilly

 

[amiefurr]

This is a private message between Heather and myself that I mentioned in my previous post that’s been reinstated since I got verified and it’s dated 12-23-24 approximately one month prior to her disappearance

 

[amiefurr]

My thoughts were, that probably the father of the child wanted to obtain guardianship and HC tried to retain her guardianship after the child's 18th birthday. I wondered, why a parent would do that: obtain guardianship now, if he never had it before.
I understand, that it maybe HC ./. state re the guardianship.

She got guardianship of her son when he turned 18. He is autistic with a bad seizure disorder and is unable to speak for himself, care for himself, or make decisions for himself. Once a special needs child turns 18 this guardianship has to be gained in order to manage their care and speak for them medically. Their father did not contest anything or try to gain it, he lives in NC. However now he has the children and is having to try and get ND to allow NC to have jurisdiction over the adult son so he can get guardianship as his mother who is his guardian is missing.

 

[amiefurr]

Her mother is on hospice care and is fading very quickly

 

[amiefurr]

These are the current facts of the case/limited timeline I have at the moment.
1. Teen son(youngest who is able to communicate) told aunt his mom said sometime in the days leading up to Heathers disappearance they were going to have a family day in Bismarck that Friday. Instead she disappeared.
2. Heather was last seen by the teenaged son who is able to speak(obviously her oldest son with special needs likely saw his mom as well but is unable to communicate)
3. Heather told teen son to watch his older brother and never returned(date is 1-24-25, date of her disappearance)
4. That same teen son walked to school because he was scared and notified his teachers his mom did not return.
5. Truck was found on 1-25-25 at Beaver Bay, ND by a down the road neighbor of hers who notified law enforcement. It was determined the keys were still in the ignition. Her shoes were found so many feet away from the back bumper of her truck. No sign of footprints beyond the shoes.
6. K9s were put on the ground one week later. They hit around where the vehicle was and trailed to the highway before losing scent.
7. Two possible sightings in Ferguson Falls, MN
8. Her phone is no longer active.
9. Heather last texted a friend @ 9:14am the morning of her disappearance

 

[bluestsocks]

These are the current facts of the case/limited timeline I have at the moment.
1. Teen son(youngest who is able to communicate) told aunt his mom said sometime in the days leading up to Heathers disappearance they were going to have a family day in Bismarck that Friday. Instead she disappeared.
2. Heather was last seen by the teenaged son who is able to speak(obviously her oldest son with special needs likely saw his mom as well but is unable to communicate)
3. Heather told teen son to watch his older brother and never returned(date is 1-24-25, date of her disappearance)
4. That same teen son walked to school because he was scared and notified his teachers his mom did not return.
5. Truck was found on 1-25-25 at Beaver Bay, ND by a down the road neighbor of hers who notified law enforcement. It was determined the keys were still in the ignition. Her shoes were found so many feet away from the back bumper of her truck. No sign of footprints beyond the shoes.
6. K9s were put on the ground one week later. They hit around where the vehicle was and trailed to the highway before losing scent.
7. Two possible sightings in Ferguson Falls, MN
8. Her phone is no longer active.
9. Heather last texted a friend @ 9:14am the morning of her disappearance

Thank you for the details. Two questions:

1. Is there anything we can do to help? Journalists you want us to contact or social media posts to share or specific locations to target for awareness?

2. Do you think there’s any chance your friend left voluntarily, or is that totally ruled out in your mind, based on how well you know her?

 

[amiefurr]

any way to make this local department ask for the Feds to jump in would be amazing. It’s a 4 man sheriff’s office who doesn’t have the capabilities to even forensically process her truck. I’m including the link to one of my Facebook reels, it has several major news organizations tagged in it. If you could find a way to get any of them to investigate this, that’s what we’ve been trying to attempt…trying to get just one post to go viral and make them pick it up(none of us know the first thing about making things go viral or how to get them to pick it up…emails have been sent to dateline by 2-3 people). I do not believe she up and left her kids willingly, like I’m so sure about that I couldn’t believe it without hearing it from her own mouth. It makes no sense why she would spend all that time gaining guardianship and fighting the school system there for her oldest rights to an education(they couldn’t support him so they paid her to take him to school in Bismarck) just for her to up and leave 9mths after getting guardianship. I feel like someone stole her and either did something bad to her or trafficked her but I have no proof for any of that. I know it’s an easy area for people to “disappear” in various ways because it’s so remote.

17 reactions · 13 shares | The disappearance of Heather Caras began on 1-24-25 at her home in Linton ND, and she has not been seen or heard from since. She was last seen at her home by her teenaged children as she went out to warm up her vehicle, and

The disappearance of Heather Caras began on 1-24-25 at her home in Linton ND, and she has not been seen or heard from since. She was last seen at her home by her teenaged children as she went out to...

www.facebook.com

 

[amiefurr]

I’ve also been posting on TikTok and will have that link below. They don’t seem to perform as well as the fb reels base off views but again I don’t know what I’m doing. I just want to find my friend preferably alive, her boys need her!

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[FromGermany1]

These are the current facts of the case/limited timeline I have at the moment.
1. Teen son(youngest who is able to communicate) told aunt his mom said sometime in the days leading up to Heathers disappearance they were going to have a family day in Bismarck that Friday. Instead she disappeared.
2. Heather was last seen by the teenaged son who is able to speak(obviously her oldest son with special needs likely saw his mom as well but is unable to communicate)
3. Heather told teen son to watch his older brother and never returned(date is 1-24-25, date of her disappearance)
4. That same teen son walked to school because he was scared and notified his teachers his mom did not return.
5. Truck was found on 1-25-25 at Beaver Bay, ND by a down the road neighbor of hers who notified law enforcement. It was determined the keys were still in the ignition. Her shoes were found so many feet away from the back bumper of her truck. No sign of footprints beyond the shoes.
6. K9s were put on the ground one week later. They hit around where the vehicle was and trailed to the highway before losing scent.
7. Two possible sightings in Ferguson Falls, MN
8. Her phone is no longer active.
9. Heather last texted a friend @ 9:14am the morning of her disappearance

What do you think would mean "they were going to have a family day in Bismarck that Friday"?? Family day with whom exactly and for which reason? Do you know, whether the family day was celebrated despite Heather's absence? - It seems to be no coincidence, when Heather disappeared just then, IMO.

I like it very much, that you as a good friend are trying to find her!

 

[Teamir]

These are the current facts of the case/limited timeline I have at the moment.
1. Teen son(youngest who is able to communicate) told aunt his mom said sometime in the days leading up to Heathers disappearance they were going to have a family day in Bismarck that Friday. Instead she disappeared.
2. Heather was last seen by the teenaged son who is able to speak(obviously her oldest son with special needs likely saw his mom as well but is unable to communicate)
3. Heather told teen son to watch his older brother and never returned(date is 1-24-25, date of her disappearance)
4. That same teen son walked to school because he was scared and notified his teachers his mom did not return.
5. Truck was found on 1-25-25 at Beaver Bay, ND by a down the road neighbor of hers who notified law enforcement. It was determined the keys were still in the ignition. Her shoes were found so many feet away from the back bumper of her truck. No sign of footprints beyond the shoes.
6. K9s were put on the ground one week later. They hit around where the vehicle was and trailed to the highway before losing scent.
7. Two possible sightings in Ferguson Falls, MN
8. Her phone is no longer active.
9. Heather last texted a friend @ 9:14am the morning of her disappearance

Her shoes were found outside the vehicle? I want to make sure I’m understanding that correctly? Because that would be the biggest sign of foul play, due to it being freezing in ND in winter.

 

[amiefurr]

What do you think would mean "they were going to have a family day in Bismarck that Friday"?? Family day with whom exactly and for which reason? Do you know, whether the family day was celebrated despite Heather's absence? - It seems to be no coincidence, when Heather disappeared just then, IMO.

I like it very much, that you as a good friend are trying to find her!

She was planning to take her boys to Bismarck to have some fun. It’s always just been her and her boys, no one else was part of the plan. No special reason, just because and she would take them on trips at times. She has photos all over her fb through the years of travels with the boys. This is what her son told his aunt. I hope that clears things up for you.

 

[amiefurr]

Her shoes were found outside the vehicle? I want to make sure I’m understanding that correctly? Because that would be the biggest sign of foul play, due to it being freezing in ND in winter.

Yes her shoes were found outside of her vehicle so many feet away from her back bumper and no footprints beyond where her shoes were. I feel the same way, that screams foul play to me but they think she left willingly despite all of her closest friends who’ve known her for what feels like forever keep saying she wouldn’t. You can also see a screenshot of a message from her to me stating she could never give up on her kids or kick them out like the person we went to school with. She’d take them to their dad even though his involvement in the kids lives has been minimal.

 

[amiefurr]

To my knowledge the possible sightings in Fergus falls have not been confirmed. It honestly feels like they made assumptions on her disappearance and are just sweeping her under the rug since they don’t have the capabilities to handle a case like this. They can’t even fingerprint her truck. They should have requested help from the Feds from the start. Larger departments from bigger cities ask for their help, why won’t this tiny 4 man department do the same? I honestly have so much trouble understanding this.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

@amiefurr . I just got caught up , again on this case with Heather....
It must be just heartbreaking for those of you who know her well...

It does appear that the kids are ok, now living with their dad.But there lives are just altered forever as well....

I am sure most of here on this thread hope you can keep us informed, and keep your spirits as healthy as possible....

 

[amiefurr]

@amiefurr . I just got caught up , again on this case with Heather....
It must be just heartbreaking for those of you who know her well...

It does appear that the kids are ok, now living with their dad.But there lives are just altered forever as well....

I am sure most of here on this thread hope you can keep us informed, and keep your spirits as healthy as possible....

Kids are with their aunt now. Long story, but for now she is the best option for them. It’s incredibly frustrating that it appears the PD there is trying to sweep this under the rug or just not do everything they possibly can. Frustrations towards her family as well, if you go to Heathers fb page you’ll see it’s mostly her friends who are posting about her daily, sometimes several times a day. So many frustrations and we just want our friend found. I honestly don’t feel she is still with us but I have nothing to base that off of except my gut feeling and knowing her.

 

[caribou_birdie]

These are the current facts of the case/limited timeline I have at the moment.
1. Teen son(youngest who is able to communicate) told aunt his mom said sometime in the days leading up to Heathers disappearance they were going to have a family day in Bismarck that Friday. Instead she disappeared.
2. Heather was last seen by the teenaged son who is able to speak(obviously her oldest son with special needs likely saw his mom as well but is unable to communicate)
3. Heather told teen son to watch his older brother and never returned(date is 1-24-25, date of her disappearance)
4. That same teen son walked to school because he was scared and notified his teachers his mom did not return.
5. Truck was found on 1-25-25 at Beaver Bay, ND by a down the road neighbor of hers who notified law enforcement. It was determined the keys were still in the ignition. Her shoes were found so many feet away from the back bumper of her truck. No sign of footprints beyond the shoes.
6. K9s were put on the ground one week later. They hit around where the vehicle was and trailed to the highway before losing scent.
7. Two possible sightings in Ferguson Falls, MN
8. Her phone is no longer active.
9. Heather last texted a friend @ 9:14am the morning of her disappearance

In reference to #3 above, has she ever asked the teen son to watch his brother before or is this a first?