FAIRMONT — The family of a missing Fairmont area woman is asking anyone with information to please come forward.
Christa Merrill, 34, disappeared in Clarksburg on Aug. 27. Merrill had been released from the North Central Regional Jail a few days prior and made her way to Clarksburg where she stayed with an acquaintance. Merrill has a history of a substance use disorder but had been on her longest sobriety streak, roughly a year long, when she went missing.
“Even when she’s out [of jail], even when she’s using, she’s never gone more than a day or two without contact,” Hannah Kinty, Merrill’s sister, said. “So it’s definitely very unusual. Even if she was on a bender or something, for nobody to have heard from her, even people who she usually frequents the Clarksburg, Morgantown, Fairmont area with, and not one person has seen her.”
Kinty said the acquaintance kept her sister safe for five days after leaving jail, but threw her out on the morning of Sept. 27 between 2 and 3 a.m. Merrill headed toward the bus stop, which could be seen from the acquaintance’s window.
“The last people who talked to her said she was trying to get back to her kids,” Kinty said. “Kept saying she wanted to see her children. The last text that her ex-husband got was that she misses the kids and wants to find a ride home on the bus to get down to Fairmont.”
Merrill never made it to Fairmont.
Kinty and Merrill’s mother, Susan Cherubino, filed a police report on Sept. 12 at the Harrison County Sheriff’s office. Cherubino knocked door to door in Clarksburg looking for her daughter. The acquaintance who last saw Merrill was cooperative, Kinty said.
They have posted fliers and made posts using social media looking for Merill. However, as the days pass by the family is becoming more and more worried. Police are now including hospitals in their search, Kinty said, as well as morgues.
Harrison County Sheriff Robert Matheny said the Marion County Sheriff’s Office is the lead agency on the case. He said his department has assisted both the family and the Marion County Sheriff with their search in a few places.
Fairmont Police Chief Steve Shine said Merrill gave Cherubino’s address last time she was arrested in August. Cherubino lives outside Fairmont city limits, putting her in the Marion County Sheriff’s jurisdiction. Shine said the Marion County Sheriff’s Office assigned a deputy investigator to the case.
Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Riffle said nothing new in the case has developed. He said his office would continue working with other agencies to try and locate her. Shine said his office is also aware of Merrill’s missing status and is keeping an eye out for her.
Kinty worries that the mismatch between where Merrill went missing and where she listed her home address would lead to boundary or jurisdictional issues for law enforcement. However, Matheny said it’s harder for cases to fall through the cracks after the legislature passed new regulations for missing persons cases within the last few years. A case bouncing between agencies led to the changes.
“It was a person missing from community X but she was driving through community Y,” Matheny said. “Community Y said, ‘Well, you got to go to x,’ and x said, ‘You got to go to y,’ and kind of went back and forth. Several days later, they found her deceased in a car in between.”
Matheny said the individual that led to the change in the law was related to a state legislator. As a result, the state passed new legislation so that wouldn’t happen again.
“So now it doesn’t matter if somebody would come into an agency and report somebody from as far away in a state that you could imagine,” he said. “We’re required to start the investigation.”
In any case, Matheny is determined to not let the case fall and end up cold. However, what can make a missing persons case challenging comes down to whatever consistency an individual has in their daily habits. The less regularity, the harder is to predict where they may be or have traveled.
Also, there is a question of whether a person is missing by choice, due to domestic violence or other personal challenges. That can make it difficult to determine if someone is in danger when they’re missing. Matheny said it’s important to track down all leads and leave no stone unturned. Making sure the person is safe is the end goal for everyone.
Matheny urged anyone with information to notify police. Kinty said if anyone sees Merrill, to not let it go unreported.
Cherubino finds it very difficult to talk about her missing daughter. She just wants her to come home.
“She’s very loved and missed,” Cherubino said. “Her children want her home. Her family loves her. We want any information we can get about her. Please call the local police, paper, anybody you know, post, reshare. Get her home.”
Anyone with information can call the Marion County Sheriff’s Office at 304-367-5300 or the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office at 304-624-8550.
