VA VA - Rebecca Ann Crist, 26, Staunton, 3 May 1988

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The Doe Network:
Case File 1702DFVA

ACrist.jpg

http://doenetwork.org/cases/1702dfva.html
Ann Crist
Missing since May 3, 1988 from Staunton, City Of Staunton, Virginia.
Classification: Missing


Vital Statistics
  • Age at Time of Disappearance: 26 years old
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Red wavy, long hair.


Circumstances of Disappearance
Ann Crist left her West Beverley Street apartment shortly after lunch on May 3, 1988. Ann's family reported her missing on May 7, 1988. She'd last been seen walking west on West Beverley Street. She'd asked her sister to watch her toddler son.
She had lots of friends, even more acquaintances. They all cooperated with police when asked about where Ann might have gone, but there were few leads to follow. No threats had been reported. She hadn't had recent disagreements. She hadn't been unhappy. There was no indication of foul play.
Phone records from Crist's apartment were never obtained from the phone company. A year into the investigation, it came out in a newspaper report that Ann had received a phone call just prior to leaving her apartment that day in May, but it was too late. Those records were no longer available.
Staunton police had questioned a man about the Crist case. In October 1991, he sent a letter to the Crist family and said he'd accidentally killed her and dumped her body in the landfill. Police chased dozens of leads, but could not corroborate the man's story. He has not been charged. He remains a suspect in Ann's disappearance.


Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Staunton Police Department
540-332-3980


NCIC Number: N/A
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
The News Leader

Return to the Unexplained Disappearances' Index

 
still missing:

After nearly 30 years, Cale and her sister, Vicky Crist, said they no longer have confidence the Staunton Police Department will ever solve the mystery of what happened to Ann Crist. In fact, the sisters want Staunton to relinquish the case to the Augusta County Sheriff's Office or Virginia State Police. They're also considering contacting the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP or the Attorney General's Office.

http://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2016/05/06/ann-crist-missing-28-years/84016334/
 
Ann Crist: Missing for 30 years

https://www.newsleader.com/story/ne...on-woman-has-been-missing-30-years/576888002/

Today marks 30 years since Ann Crist, a Staunton woman, went missing, leaving behind her 2-year-old son.

It was the afternoon of May 3, 1988, when she was last seen at her West Beverley Street apartment. She briefly spoke on the phone with an unidentified person, then the somewhat shy redhead left on foot.

Family members never saw her again.


Missing Ann: Crist believed dead, but family still seeks answers in young mother's 1988 daytime disappearance

https://www.newsleader.com/story/ne...-young-mother-disappeared-cold-case/82376704/

The phone hanging on the living room wall at a West Beverley Street apartment began to ring.

Ann Crist, 25, answered the call and had a brief conversation, according to her sister, Vicky LaPlante. Hanging up, Crist asked her sister to keep an eye on her 2-year-old son, Jonathan.

"She said she'd be back in a few minutes," LaPlante recently recalled. "She wasn't mad or nothin'."

That afternoon would be the last time LaPlante would see her sister. It was May 3, 1988.

A couple of hours passed, and Crist hadn't returned. "Mom stayed in her apartment with Jonathan," LaPlante said.

The phone finally rang about midnight. Crist's mother answered, but the person on the other end of the line remained silent.
 
Rebecca Ann Crist

O6cBysJPTCfiPYVBQkI913AM_ci95SUzeMlksfKxhf-LOjeqFHA_uhCT6_dDM5XMqneJSMYZwwKt3T6YXPHbYg4nLktg-WKVcjykEMyw9U8nqKYAR_ORBgb-zovxBNcp
yOKHg6pPXevUnt2EdLpIXPupynqbEEQqEKrXiGSPoY4b3AzLGXOtYWiN9cGTro5rJQm5Lqiqy8H3BCA7YtN1CXCyqwXXyA_d_JzXLD4zLlrrBcNtKzNzfMCbqfUZxQt4


Age at time of disappearance: 25

Sex: Female

Weight: 115 lbs

Hair: Red

Height: 5'

Eyes: Blue

Race: White

Missing Since: May 3, 1988

Missing From: Staunton, Virginia

Details: Rebecca was last seen wearing a pink blouse, gray jacket, and jeans.

Contact: Staunton Police Department 540-332-3842

Virginia State Police
 
I have the impression that she was deceived and was taken unconscious to some place where she was perhaps outraged and dismembered ... I hope with all my heart that one day it is known what happened to her for her daughter and sister for her own peace of mind
 
News-Leader, November 27 1991, p. 1, written by Cindy Corell.
POWHATAN -- Stanley H. Carlson says he and Rebecca Ann Crist were arguing about her plans to have an abortion when he hit her and she hit her head and died.
An inmate in the receiving unit of Powhatan Correctional Center, Carlson said Monday he doesn't believe in abortion. He compares it to murder.
Carlson is currently a suspect in the murder of Miss Crist by local authorities, but hasn't been arrested. A federal statute that requires more than an admission of guilt has prevented his arrest, Carlson says.
Incarcerated on a conviction that he abducted his wife and children last year, Carlson says he wants police to charge him with voluntary manslaughter, so he can be given a short sentencer and be freed sooner.
A conviction of manslaughter would prevent any other charge in relation of the woman's murder because of double jeopardy, Carlson says.
At this point in the investigation, Carlson concedes it would be impossible for him to be convicted of manslaughter.
"They ain't got no evidence. They have no proof that she's dead; a they know is that she's gone. After four years [actually three], you have to presume she's dead. But they have to prove she's dead. They don't have the body and of course my car's been crushed," Carlson says.
Though authorities will not comment on the Crist investigation, Augusta County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Richard E. Moore confirmed that the concept of double jeopardy would prohibit a charge against someone who has been either convicted or acquitted of a related offense.
Carlson said he had left his wife, Sylvia Carlson, at King's Daughters' Hospital that morning, May 3 1988, in labor with the couple's second child, and went driving around. He picked up Miss Crist on West Beverley Street and they drove to Braley's Pond, Carlson says.
Driving back to Staunton, Carlson stopped the car at a dumpster along the road and crawled in it to get any aluminum he could find.
"We were still arguing when I got out of the dumpster," Carlson says. "She told me by the time I got my son out of the hospital, I wouldn't have to worry about hers. It would already be taken care of. She was going to have an abortion. I hit her."
Carlson says he placed the woman's shaking body in his car and headed back to Staunton.
By the time they got back to Staunton, Miss Crist wasn't breathing, Carlson says. He says he drove around until about 11 p.m. or midnight and then broke into the Augusta County landfill where he placed the body under a couch and left it.
Trying to manipulate the authorities is a challenge for him, Carlson says.
"I've got an IQ of 144," he says. "I do a lot of reading. I know about federal court rulings. It's kind of a chess game. They don't want to call checkmate and neither do I."

Clipping from The Daily News Leader - Newspapers.com
 
News-Leader, November 27 1991, p. 1, written by Cindy Corell.
POWHATAN -- Stanley H. Carlson says he and Rebecca Ann Crist were arguing about her plans to have an abortion when he hit her and she hit her head and died.
An inmate in the receiving unit of Powhatan Correctional Center, Carlson said Monday he doesn't believe in abortion. He compares it to murder.
Carlson is currently a suspect in the murder of Miss Crist by local authorities, but hasn't been arrested. A federal statute that requires more than an admission of guilt has prevented his arrest, Carlson says.
Incarcerated on a conviction that he abducted his wife and children last year, Carlson says he wants police to charge him with voluntary manslaughter, so he can be given a short sentencer and be freed sooner.
A conviction of manslaughter would prevent any other charge in relation of the woman's murder because of double jeopardy, Carlson says.
At this point in the investigation, Carlson concedes it would be impossible for him to be convicted of manslaughter.
"They ain't got no evidence. They have no proof that she's dead; a they know is that she's gone. After four years [actually three], you have to presume she's dead. But they have to prove she's dead. They don't have the body and of course my car's been crushed," Carlson says.
Though authorities will not comment on the Crist investigation, Augusta County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Richard E. Moore confirmed that the concept of double jeopardy would prohibit a charge against someone who has been either convicted or acquitted of a related offense.
Carlson said he had left his wife, Sylvia Carlson, at King's Daughters' Hospital that morning, May 3 1988, in labor with the couple's second child, and went driving around. He picked up Miss Crist on West Beverley Street and they drove to Braley's Pond, Carlson says.
Driving back to Staunton, Carlson stopped the car at a dumpster along the road and crawled in it to get any aluminum he could find.
"We were still arguing when I got out of the dumpster," Carlson says. "She told me by the time I got my son out of the hospital, I wouldn't have to worry about hers. It would already be taken care of. She was going to have an abortion. I hit her."
Carlson says he placed the woman's shaking body in his car and headed back to Staunton.
By the time they got back to Staunton, Miss Crist wasn't breathing, Carlson says. He says he drove around until about 11 p.m. or midnight and then broke into the Augusta County landfill where he placed the body under a couch and left it.
Trying to manipulate the authorities is a challenge for him, Carlson says.
"I've got an IQ of 144," he says. "I do a lot of reading. I know about federal court rulings. It's kind of a chess game. They don't want to call checkmate and neither do I."

Clipping from The Daily News Leader - Newspapers.com
This has to be the most bizarre confession, or semi-confession, I've ever seen. Has there been any progress in this?
 
Do we know if there were other cold cases related to her family? Ann reminds me a lot of a girl whose picture was taken by Rodney Alcala.
 
  • crist_rebecca.jpg
  • rebecca_ann_crist_2.jpg
Crist, circa 1988
  • Missing Since 05/03/1988
  • Missing From Staunton, Virginia
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 08/30/1962 (61)
  • Age 25 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'0, 115 pounds

  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A gray jacket, a pink blouse and blue jeans.

  • Medical Conditions Crist may have been up to three months pregnant at the time of her disappearance, but this hasn't been confirmed.

  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Red hair, blue eyes. Crist goes by her middle name, Ann.

Details of Disappearance​

Crist was last seen shortly after lunchtime on May 3, 1988 after she left her apartment on west Beverley Street in Staunton, Virginia. She was at home with her sister when she got a phone call, had a short conversation, and asked her sister to babysit her two-year-old son while she went out for a few minutes.

She was last seen walking westbound on west Beverly Street. She never returned and has never been heard from again.

The phone in Crist's apartment rang at about midnight the day she vanished, and Crist's mother answered, but the caller didn't say anything and the line went dead. Her family reported her missing on May 7.

In 1991, a handyman in Staunton sent a letter to Crist's family in which he confessed to accidentally killing her and disposing of her body in a landfill. Investigators were never able to verify his confession, but he remains a suspect in Crist's disappearance. He is currently incarcerated on unrelated charges.

An acquaintance and former neighbor of Crist's, Raymond Fauber, disappeared a few months after she did. Fauber was a retired postal worker. In 1991, his body was recovered from the basement of his home in the 300 block of Fayette Street; he'd been shot by his son-in-law, Robert Asbury, who was ultimately sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Cadaver dogs at the property followed a scent to the end of the paved driveway, leading police to theorize there was another body buried on the property. In the end, they decided not to search it, however.

Authorities don't believe Fauber's murder and Crist's disappearance are connected, and noted that his driveway had been paved several years before Crist disappeared. They also offered Asbury a plea deal where, if he confessed to Crist's murder, he would serve no additional prison time in her death; he maintained his innocence in her case.

Investigators are not certain what happened to Crist. She was well-liked in the community and had no known enemies, nor had she mentioned feeling unsafe or unhappy with her life prior to her disappearance.

She had dropped out of high school, didn't own a car or have a driver's license, and was on public assistance at the time of her disappearance, but she hadn't gotten in trouble with the law, didn't drink or smoke and didn't associate with people who did. Her sister stated she was very interested in police work and had a scanner and a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings about the local police department.

At the time she vanished, it was believed Crist left of her own accord, but it would be highly unusual for her to have stayed out of contact with her family for so long. She also left her wallet behind, and she'd paid her rent a month in advance the day before she went missing.

She is described as a devoted parent who would not have willingly abandoned her son. She disappeared the day before she was due to appear in court for a paternity hearing about her son. Crist's parents are dead, but her sister and her son are still alive.

Crist's case remains unsolved; she is missing under unknown circumstances.

Investigating Agency​

  • Staunton Police Department 540-332-3980

Source Information​

Updated 6 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 31, 2016; medical conditions added, details of disappearance updated.
 

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