Found Deceased Russia - Catherine Serou, 34, American, got in car w/ stranger, Nizhny Novgorod, 15 Jun 2021 arrest

[GuyfromCanada]

Catherine Serou, a U.S. citizen studying in Russia, has been missing since she got into a car with a stranger on Tuesday. The authorities in Nizhny Novgorod, 250 miles east of Moscow, have started a criminal investigation and are searching a forested area outside the city where Serou's cell phone was last picked up.

On the day of her disappearance Serou managed to send a text message to her mother in Vicksburg, Miss. — the last sign of life from the 34-year-old graduate student and former Marine.

More at A U.S. Citizen Has Gone Missing In Russia, Sparking A Criminal Investigation

US citizen disappeared in Russia, triggering criminal investigation: NPR

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Catherine's ResearchGate page Catherine Serou

 

[GuyfromCanada]

An article in Russian, use Google Translate. Исчезнувшая в Нижнем Новгороде американка четыре года служила в США морпехом

Catherine had a boyfriend, he claimed that they were in an open relationship and that he started losing interest in Catherine a few months ago. He would text her much less, but they've stayed in contact. She was renting, no signs of a crime at her apartment. Last summer, she went to Saint Petersburg and had no contact with her mother for 5 days.

 

[modesty blaise]

How odd i wonder if it was really her that sent the message to mom. I would never alarm my mother like that.

 

[rainynights]

A U.S. Citizen Has Gone Missing In Russia, Sparking A Criminal Investigation | 90.1 FM WABE

[...]

On the day of her disappearance Serou managed to send a text message to her mother in Vicksburg, Miss. — the last sign of life from the 34-year-old graduate student and former Marine.

“It says: ‘In a car with a stranger. I hope I’m not being abducted.’ And that’s the last thing she wrote,” [BS] said in an interview with NPR. “She’s out there in this forest, I think, relying on her wits — if she hasn’t been killed — to stay alive.”

Serou enrolled in a master’s program in law at Lobachevsky University in Nizhny Novgorod in fall 2019, according to her mother. Serou wanted to study Russian before applying for law school in the United States and pursuing a career as an immigration lawyer.

On Thursday, regional investigators said they had opened a potential murder case after Serou disappeared following the text message to her mother. Investigators have since appealed to local residents of Bor, the Nizhny Novgorod suburb where Serou lived, and environs to provide any clues of the apparent abduction.

[...]

Serou was in a hurry Tuesday to return to a clinic in Nizhny Novgorod where she had made a payment that didn’t go through, according to her mother, so she may have jumped into a passing car without waiting for her Uber to arrive.

“I think that when she saw that the person wasn’t driving to the clinic, but instead was driving into a forest, she panicked,” says [BS]. “Her telephone last pinged off a cell tower in that forest.”

[...]

 

[annpats]

It's quite normal in Russia, other parts of eastern Europe and also Eurasia, and the Middle East to use random cars and drivers as a taxi service. I've done it myself. The drivers get some money, you get where you need to go. It's more common in the poorer countries.....
Obviously, there are risks, but I wonder if this driver took advantage once he found out she was a foreigner?
I'm presuming she must have spoken some Russian?
Dash cams are very popular in Russia, so I hope someone caught something....or the city CCTV did.
At least there was a cell tower ping near the forest so LE do have something to go on...

 

[JayLee#99]

Yikes! That text message is frightening!

 

[Darling136]

Unfortunatrly she was found deceased and an arrest is made

Missing American woman found dead in Russia, suspect arrested

 

[modesty blaise]

Poor girl this is terrible.
What the heck is the major malfunction with male humans?

 

[BrownRice]

Unfortunatrly she was found deceased and an arrest is made

Missing American woman found dead in Russia, suspect arrested

Oh no. That’s horrible.

 

[BrownRice]

An article in Russian, use Google Translate. Исчезнувшая в Нижнем Новгороде американка четыре года служила в США морпехом

Catherine had a boyfriend, he claimed that they were in an open relationship and that he started losing interest in Catherine a few months ago. He would text her much less, but they've stayed in contact. She was renting, no signs of a crime at her apartment. Last summer, she went to Saint Petersburg and had no contact with her mother for 5 days.

That’s a really odd statement from the ex boyfriend. Hoping his actual sentiment was lost in translation somehow.

 

[realanastasia]

That’s a really odd statement from the ex boyfriend. Hoping his actual sentiment was lost in translation somehow.

I totally agree, his initial description of their relationship raised my hackles. Even if true, it seemed insensitive to publicly characterize their “open relationship” as having been the result of his “loss of interest” in Catherine.

Body Of Missing American Student Said Found In Russia, Suspect Detained

Catherine Serou

Man detained on suspicion of murder in Russia, after body of missing US woman is found

Am I alone in finding her professional trajectory somewhat unorthodox? God knows I love when students have diverse academic interests, especially in the arts and the humanities, but there’s just something about the chronology (as described by her mother in articles linked above and CS’s own ResearchGate page) that makes me wonder if she was floundering a bit, seeking a path but not quite able to settle on one.

Piecing together info from previous articles linked by others and the ones I have linked in this post, it appears she was a US Marine who served in Afghanistan, then got a BA in Design, and an MA in Art History, from UC Davis. At Davis, she claimed to have experienced discrimination from her professors on the grounds of her political beliefs; she is quoted in this article from the student newspaper in 2018. The elephant in the room | The Aggie

She also explains her interest in Art History in this “meet the new grad students” video posted by UCD’s Art History program in 2018: Log into Facebook

She got her MA in Art History in 2019 and shortly thereafter, “sold her California condominium” and moved to Russia to get another MA, this time in Law,
with the intention of returning to the US and working as an immigration lawyer. A Russian MA degree, even if focused on the study of the law, seems unlikely to prepare one for the bar exams one must pass in the States to be allowed to practice law.

This is going to sound crazy, but I wonder if she might’ve actually been employed in some covert/below-the-radar role (like gathering intel) for one of the US’s intelligence agencies.Even in the video I posted above, she seems more at ease asking questions to draw out more details from her colleagues than talking about her own interests.

All of this conjecture aside, I find it infuriating (on many levels) that a seemingly worldly, accomplished young woman such as herself should have her life cut short by what the international press seems to be characterizing as a stupid decision to get in a car with an unknown man. Worse still, the suspect in custody apparently has a long, violent and disturbing criminal record,

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Awww No!

 

[realanastasia]

This is in Russian but they have her on camera in the car:

Лайф узнал подробности жестокого убийства американской студентки в Нижегородской области

The translation of the article is from Google:
Raped and then stabbed: Life found out the details of the brutal murder of an American student in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
The suspect in the massacre has already been detained. They turned out to be a 43-year-old native of Krasnodar, who had already been tried.
The murderer of American student Catherine Searow injured her three stabbed and raped his victim before the massacre. This was reported to Life by a source.
It is noted that the suspect has already been detained. They were a 43-year-old native of Krasnodar, who had previously been tried for rape, sexual violence, hooliganism and robbery. According to a Life source, the attacker was caught thanks to recordings from video surveillance cameras on the roads. Thus, the video clearly shows that the man is driving in the car with the deceased, and after a while he passes alone.
We would like to remind you that American student Catherine Searow disappeared in Nizhny Novgorod on June 15. She moved to Russia three years ago and entered the master's degree of Lobachevsky NNSU. A criminal case was initiated under the article "Murder" in fact of the incident. A few hours before her disappearance, the American woman was on camera.

There is another article linked in this one, also about CS and alleging she’d vanished previously:
It's not the first time it's missing: An American woman who disappeared in Nizhny Novgorod served in the United States for four years as a Marine.
Last summer, Catherine went to St. Petersburg and didn't get in touch for about five days.
The police got in touch with a young man of American Catherine Searow, who disappeared without a trace in Nizhny Novgorod a few days ago. As a law enforcement source told Life, they met their boyfriend six months ago at Winder.

The man told the police that they had a fairly free relationship with Catherine. And a few months ago, he lost interest in her. He tried to write to her much less often, but they still maintained contact.

It also turned out that Catherine served as a Marine in the United States for four years. The door to the apartment was locked after she left. After the examination, the police concluded that nothing criminal was happening there. At the same time, the hostess, from whom the American rented a house, characterized her as a positive girl: she did not drive anyone to visit, drew, knit and gave online English lessons in her spare time.
However, this is not the first time an American woman has disappeared. Last summer, Catherine went to St. Petersburg and didn't get in touch for about five days.

We would like to remind you that American student Searow Catherine Elaine disappeared in Nizhny Novgorod on June 15. She moved to Russia three years ago and entered the master's degree of Lobachevsky NNSU. Its location has not yet been established. A criminal case has been initiated under the article "Murder".

 

[realanastasia]

One more from this Russian news website:
Одногруппников шокировало исчезновение американской студентки в Нижнем Новгороде

"Trustful and very open": Classmates were shocked by the disappearance of an American student in Nizhny Novgorod.
The last time the girl got in touch with relatives early in the morning, she texted her mother and disappeared.

American student Catherine Searow, who disappeared in Nizhny Novgorod, is a very trusting and open girl. That's how one of the students of Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod University, who studied at the same faculty with her, responded to Life.

The girl says she's always been surprised at how much the American woman didn't try to hide her emotions. Catherine's disappearance shocked her classmates. Another university student said that the girl recently went to the embassy, issued some power of attorney for her mother. She also said she was drinking some medicine.

According to another friend, the American woman had some friend, and maybe a boyfriend. However, the girl didn't spread much about the relationship.

 

[annpats]

She moved to Russia three years ago and entered the master's degree of Lobachevsky NNSU.

Three years is a long time for a Master's degree. Aren't they usually just a year?

Also, she seems to not be short of cash for someone who was in the military. Despite being a marine for a while, she managed to buy a condo in California AND then be able to study fine arts, both a BA and MA at UC Davis, well all of that costs a lot of money.

She then changed her mind again, sold her house and went to Russia for 3 years to study for an MA in law, but that degree isn't really what you'll need to practice law anywhere anyway!

It all sounds a bit disjointed. Oh, I don't know. But poor lady.

 

[jjenny]

Apparently the accused killer had a long criminal history. He was also on dating websites looking for women to have romantic relationships with, and not revealing his criminal history. I really doubt this is some conspiracy theory related crime. It seems a similar sort of crime that can happen anywhere, a criminal abducts and murders a woman. I don't know if she randomly got into his car (to go pay her bill, as her mother thinks), or if they met on a dating website.

 

[Marg from Oz]

Maybe she thought he was an Uber driver.

 

[jjenny]

You have to use google translate but per Russian news the suspect had spend time in prison for rape and sexual assault.
Per google translate from the link below "Also, according to "Life Shot", the man, who had been repeatedly convicted before, was serving sentences in prisons under the articles "Rape", "Violent acts of a sexual nature", "Hooliganism" and "Robbery"."
44-лентий мужчина подозревается в изнасиловании убитой в Нижегородской области американки Кэтрин Сироу | Открытый Нижний (opennov.ru)

 

[jjenny]

How odd i wonder if it was really her that sent the message to mom. I would never alarm my mother like that.

Different people have different relationships with their parents. You therefore can't base her behavior on yourself.