Missing
Clarissa Ann Culberson
Culberson, approximately 1996; Vincent Doan, approximately 2001; Culberson's car license plate; A car similar to Culberson's Mazda
Date and time person was reported missing : 08/28/1996
Missing location (approx) :
Blanchester, Ohio
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 01/31/1974 (47)
Age at the time of disappearance: 22 years old
Height / Weight : 5'2 - 5'3, 122 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Culberson's ears are pierced. Her nickname is Carrie. She has a tattoo of a sun on her inner right calf and a tattoo of a daisy on her right hip.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Culberson dated Vincent "Vince" Doan from 1994 to 1996 in their hometown of Blanchester, Ohio. A photos of Doan is posted with this case summary. Their relationship was extremely volatile and abusive. Culberson informed authorities that Doan smashed her car's windows while she sat inside the vehicle and also hit her in the lower abdomen, bruising her kidneys, in 1995 and again in 1996.
Culberson filed a criminal complaint of misdemeanor assault against Doan during the summer of 1996 after he allegedly hit her on the head with a space heater, requiring Culberson to receive five surgical staples to close the wound. Culberson and Doan were scheduled to appear at a court hearing in early September 1996 regarding the complaint.
Culberson's family told authorities that Doan abducted her and held her at gunpoint for five hours in on August 25, three days before she was last seen, before she convinced him to drive her home. They also stated that Doan was obsessed with Culberson and was very controlling.
Culberson was last seen at approximately 11:30 p.m. on August 28, 1996. She was dropped off at her residence after attending a volleyball game with two friends. One of her neighbors say she left the house in her car a few minutes after arriving.
Culberson has never been heard from again and her red 1989 Honda CRX disappeared with her. She was missed at 6:00 a.m. the next morning when her mother noticed that her car was not in the driveway. Photographs of a similar vehicle and Culberson's car license plate, which was numbered ROL402, are posted with this case summary.
Doan had appeared at the volleyball game the night Culberson disappeared, angry with her because she would not accompany him to court where he had to appear on a traffic violation. He wanted to drive her home, but Culberson attempted to avoid being alone with him.
She was seen shaking her head "no" to Doan numerous times, and told him she was the designated driver and had to see her friends home. Doan finally left the bar angrily and those inside could hear his tires squealing as he peeled out of the parking lot.
Culberson's loved ones believe that she may have driven to Doan's house during the early morning hours of August 29, after her friends dropped her off at home.
Doan at first claimed he hadn't seen her, but later changed his story and said that Culberson arrived at his home at 12:30 a.m. and honked, but he refused to speak to her. He told authorities that she appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the alleged incident, but Culberson's friends say she had only one beer while she was with them and was not drunk.
Doan changed his story a third time and says Culberson went to his house and he came out wrapped in a towel and told her he no longer loved her, and she sped away in her car. He was immediately considered the prime suspect in Culberson's disappearance, in part because of the many conflicting accounts he gave to investigators about the time he last saw her.
Authorities began searching Doan's family's property in Blanchester five days following Culberson's disappearance. The former police chief, Richard Payton, was a friend of Doan's family and allegedly warned them that he was bound to become a prime suspect in Culberson's case.
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