Nancy Guthrie is missing. So are 26,000 other Americans.
Two years ago Thursday, Cristina Ase didn’t show up for work at the Rose Linn Care Center in West Linn, Oregon, prompting her coworkers and family to report her as missing. She’s one of thousands who are still missing as families and loved ones pour out resources to bring them home.
Her coworkers-turned-friends, Amy Schauer and Nicole Oquist, told Straight Arrow News they have left no stone unturned while searching for their friend in the Vancouver, Washington, area. They said work at Rose Linn Care Center hasn’t been the same since Ase, 62, disappeared on March 26, 2024.
And they’re pulling out all stops to locate their friend.
“We got billboards put up for her,” Schauer, who works as a medical records director, said. “We’ve done everything we know how to do. We had flyers passed out. We went to Washington to get help as well.”
Other missing persons cases nationwide
Their efforts and attention to locate Ase are akin to what Nancy Guthrie’s family is doing to locate the Arizona mother who’s been missing since Feb. 1. Daughter and “TODAY” show co-host Savannah Guthrie has issued statements with her family to plead for the 84-year-old’s safe return. The journalist gave an at-length interview to her network, the only one she’s done, that is expected to debut Thursday and Friday.
Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance generated and drove media coverage largely from Savannah Guthrie’s job as a prominent journalist at NBC News, and ransom notes sent out to tabloid TMZ and several television stations in Tucson, Arizona.
“Their family members miss them, and they want some answers and closures,” Oquist, a housekeeping and laundry director, said.
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According to the Justice Department, there were 26,278 open missing persons cases across all 50 states and territories in February.
Thousands of other families and friends are searching for their loved ones. The Justice Department’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System lists 26,336 active missing persons cases. The database isn’t conclusive about how many people are missing nationwide, as not all cases are reported to NamUS.
According to Arizona State University’s Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, missing persons cases can be complicated with the person being a victim of a violent crime, homeless, an unauthorized immigrant, a runaway, or involved in sex work, among other circumstances.
The volume of cases prompts people to keep others aware that their loved one is still unaccounted for.
“If people don’t see her face out there, they tend to forget they are missing, and that’s the case for anyone,” Schauer said.
Vancouver Police labels Ase’s disappearance ‘suspicious’
Ase worked as a nursing director at Rose Linn with Schauer and Oquist for 15 years, building a strong relationship with the two. They considered Ase more like family as they grew to know her and said work has not been the same for them.
“She’s so kind, giving and generous,” Oquist said. “She would do anything for anybody.”
Ase’s disappearance has been considered suspicious as her coworkers told Vancouver’s CBS affiliate KOIN 6 that Ase told a coworker she’d be late but never showed up.
“When I reached out to her husband, her husband was shocked when I told him she hadn’t gotten to work,” Brady Waldroff, Ase’s boss, told the TV station.
The FBI Seattle Field Office released a missing persons poster for Ase and said her car was found unoccupied the next day in Vancouver. They reiterated suspicious circumstances behind her disappearance, as it wasn’t part of her normal routine.
Her friends created the Cristina Ase Missing Facebook group on March 30 to help locate the Argentinian woman. In it, they shared posts longing for Ase’s return, donation drives to help families in need and updates on Ase’s case.
Oquist said it’s important to keep eyes on all missing people and to keep their pictures out there in the event someone recognizes them.
“If you know something, say something,” Schauer said. “She’s loved, missed and needed. She’s been gone too long. Her family needs answers. Her friends need answers.”
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
