Brad Zinn

bzinn@newsleader.com

STAUNTON - Despite the recent conviction of a local man for a 1983 Augusta County homicide, and the March arrest of a Crimora man in the 13-year-old slaying of his wife, the family of a Staunton woman missing for nearly three decades isn't holding out hope that their long-running case will be solved anytime soon.

"If they haven't found anything in 28 years, they're not going to find anything," said Alice Cale, the sister of Ann Crist, a Staunton woman last seen the afternoon of May 3, 1988, after she left her West Beverley Street apartment.

Crist was 26 years old and the mother of a young boy.

With little evidence to go on, Staunton police continue to treat Crist's disappearance as a missing person case but Cale said she's certain her sister is dead.

"There is a crime scene, it just hasn't been found," she said.

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.

"These are people who fight for rights," Cale said. "We have the right for a proper investigation."

One of Cale's main points of contention is that police are "just passing the case from person to person."

However, Capt. Mark Harlow of the Staunton Police Department said it's not as simple as that. When an officer joins the department's investigative unit they're quickly tasked with reviewing the extensive Crist file. Harlow said he prefers to get as many "fresh eyes" on the file that he can muster, and said it can often open up new avenues of investigation. Virginia State Police, he said, have already reviewed the file.

According to an earlier News Leader article, on the day Crist went missing she was at her apartment when she received a phone call. After a brief conversation, Crist asked her sister, Vicky, to keep an eye on her 2-year-old son. Crist said she'd be back in a few minutes. She was never seen again by her family.

Harlow said there's no evidence that Crist was suffering mental problems or had any personal issues she was dealing with. The investigator currently handling the probe said Crist was known to dote on her child, Jonathan.

"She really loved her son," he said.

With little evidence and no paper trail to follow, Harlow said police must hunt down every tip they get concerning Crist, who is listed in the National Crime Information Center as well as a DNA database. Quarries have been searched, unidentified bodies across the nation are routinely checked, Vicky Crist once underwent hypnosis and there was even a seance held years ago.

One major piece of evidence missed by police in 1988 was not asking for a records check concerning the phone call Crist received on the day she went missing. "It would have been an excellent lead to follow," Harlow said. "But it doesn't mean we could solve the case."

Harlow and Murray continue to urge anyone with information on Crist's disappearance to step forward and contact the police department. "It may sound like it doesn't fit, or doesn't matter, but we're going to look into it," he said.

In the past couple of months alone, Murray said he's gotten new information but nothing that's going to break the case wide open.

As for Cale and Vicky Crist, the month of May always brings an extra dose of sadness. Vicky always works on the date of May 3 and Cale said she tries to occupy her time. "It's a downer," Cale said.

And while Cale might have lost confidence in the Staunton Police Department, she hasn't lost hope that her sister's disappearance will be solved. She urges others who are in a similar situation to stay strong.

"Don't give up," she said. "Keep fighting."