The Disappearance of Cristina Ase

On the morning of March 26, 2024, Cristina Ase left her apartment at the Village at Cascade Park complex at 501 SE 123rd Avenue in Vancouver at approximately 6:30 a.m. Phone data shows her traveling south on Interstate 205 into Oregon. At 6:47 a.m., she took the Southeast Foster Road exit. One minute later, she arrived in a residential neighborhood just north of Glenwood Park in Southeast Portland. Her phone remained in that area until 10 a.m. — over three hours. Investigators' analysis of the data indicated she was not stationary during that time. She was likely moving between the park and one or more nearby homes. At 10 a.m., her phone moved to the intersection of SE Flavel Street and SE 92nd Avenue, where it pinged for approximately five minutes before going dark. It was not heard from again.

At approximately 6:50 a.m. — about 20 minutes after leaving home — Cristina texted her boss to say she would be about an hour late, arriving at 8:30 a.m. instead of her usual 7:30. She never arrived. When she failed to show up and couldn't be reached, her coworker contacted the care center's executive director, who called her husband Anibal Diaz. Diaz told him he had not known Cristina was planning to arrive late that day. "At that very moment, we knew we were right. Something was very wrong," said coworker Amy Schauer, who had already sensed something was off. Diaz reported Cristina missing to the Vancouver Police Department that same evening.

Investigators checked Cristina's bank accounts and credit cards. There has been no financial activity of any kind since her disappearance. Her phone was never turned back on. There have been no known contacts with family or friends. The Vancouver Police Department classified her disappearance as suspicious and "far outside her normal pattern of behavior" from the outset. A VPD detective stated in a search warrant affidavit: "There is probable cause to believe that Cristina's sudden disappearance is related to a serious crime or imminently dangerous medical emergency."

The investigation is led by the Vancouver Police Department, with coordination from the Portland Police Bureau, the West Linn Police Department, and the FBI's Seattle Field Office. The three-jurisdiction coordination reflects the scope of the case — Cristina lived in Vancouver, worked in West Linn, and phone data places her last activity in Portland. The FBI's involvement was confirmed by October 2024 and is tied specifically to the state-line crossing. VPD Detective Jason Nicholson has been the lead investigator throughout. The city of Vancouver denied media requests for search warrant documents, citing the ongoing investigation, though the April 9 affidavit provided significant public detail.

The physical evidence from her car raised immediate concern among those closest to her. A roll of duct tape, hairs, and cleaning-agent residue on multiple interior surfaces suggested the vehicle's interior had been deliberately cleaned after she left in it. "Anytime somebody professionally cleans something, that has some mystery to it, it makes me very concerned," said Brady Waldroff, the Rose Linn executive director. "Does it make me very concerned? Yes." The car returned to her apartment on its own, while she was already missing — a detail police called one of the case's most puzzling elements.

The question of what Cristina was doing in the Glenwood Park neighborhood on those several mornings before and including the day of her disappearance has not been answered. Her coworkers emphasized that the neighborhood was completely unlike anywhere Cristina would normally go. The prior pattern — the 20-minute delay after leaving home, the route to the SE Foster Road exit, the time between leaving and arriving at work — points to repeated visits to an area that investigators have continued to treat as central to the case. No one from that neighborhood has come forward with information.

Investigators are particularly interested in hearing from anyone who knew Cristina, had contact with her in the weeks before her disappearance, or has any knowledge of her activity in the Glenwood Park area of Southeast Portland. Crime Stoppers of Oregon is offering a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest. FBI tips are also accepted anonymously.

Cristina Ase came to the United States from Argentina with nothing except determination. She taught herself English. She started as a cook. She worked her way through nursing school while holding a job. She earned a doctorate. She spent fifteen years building something at a small nursing facility in West Linn that her coworkers describe as a whole life's worth of care and presence. They called her the heart and soul. The glue. The person who told everyone not to worry, who never had a bad word to say about anyone. Who gave her whole life to helping others.

She called her sisters in Argentina every single day. She had a training session scheduled on March 26, 2024, and she was looking forward to it. She texted her boss to say she would be an hour late, which she had done before. She never walked through that door. Her car came back without her. Her phone went dark. Her bank accounts went still. There has been nothing since.

Her coworkers have kept looking. They organized vigils on her birthday. They put up hundreds of flyers and secured seven billboards for free. They have searched riverbanks and roads and neighborhoods. They call her sisters once a week. They call her husband. They have not given up. "We are her family," Amy said. "We're what she has." Cristina Ase is not forgotten. If you know something about what happened in the Glenwood Park neighborhood that morning, please come forward.