Police tracked missing Vancouver woman’s cellphone through SE PortlandFree

The Vancouver Police Department and Crime Stoppers of Oregon are asking for the public’s assistance in locating 61-year-old Cristina Ase, who has been missing since March 26. Police have not identified any people of interest in Ase’s disappearance.

Cellphone records show Ase left her home in Vancouver at 6:34 a.m. March 26, and drove south on Interstate 205 into southeast Portland. Police say phone data showed Ase moving between houses in the neighborhood north of Glenwood Park, before her phone shut off about 10 a.m. at the intersection of Southeast Flavel and 92nd Avenue, according to a search warrant affidavit filed April 9 in Clark County Superior Court.

Ase’s vehicle — a 2013 Toyota Rav4 — was found the following day near her residence. The affidavit said the vehicle’s rear-view mirror was askew, and “there appeared to be a powdery white residue — like a cleaning agent — coating several surfaces on the interior.”

In speaking with her employer, investigators found Ase had been misleading her co-workers and husband about her whereabouts on several occasions in the weeks before her disappearance, the affidavit states; co-workers told KATU last week that such behavior is out of character.

Investigators suspect Ase had been visiting Portland’s Glenwood Park area in the weeks before her disappearance, the affidavit says.

“It should be reiterated that this disappearance is a wild divergence from Cristina’s baseline behavior. Her absence has been a cause of enormous distress for her co-workers and family,” the affidavit reads. “Given the condition of her vehicle, which mysteriously showed back up at a location near her home following her disappearance, and her unexplained presence — for three hours — at a location in (southeast) Portland, there is probable cause to believe that Cristina’s sudden disappearance is related to a serious crime or imminently dangerous medical emergency.”

According to KATU, Chad Banks at Lamar Advertising has placed seven billboards showing Ase’s photo and name across Portland.

Crime Stoppers of Oregon, a nonprofit organization, is offering $2,500 for information that leads to an arrest in any unsolved felony crime. Secure, anonymous tips can be submitted online at www.crimestoppersoforegon.com.