From more than 2,000 miles away, Ashley Boelter is desperately trying to find her husband’s 18-year-old sister, who disappeared from the Bloomfied IGA parking lot at 6 p.m. New Year’s Eve after working her shift at the grocery deli.
Police are not saying much about Marina Boelter’s disappearance a week ago. Bloomfield Town Marshal Kenny Tharp did not return a call seeking information about the investigation, and Indiana State Police Sgt. Curt Durnil said his agency has not been called in to assist.
In the meantime, the missing teen’s 32-year-old half brother, David Boelter, flew to Indiana Tuesday from Nevada to search. He was joined by the woman’s father, John Boelter, and her uncle, who live in Ohio, and two of their cousins. “They are canvassing the area, trying to talk to anyone who knew Marina, to find out more,” Ashley Boelter said.
She created a Facebook page called Find Marina Boelter, and established a Go Fund Me account to raise money for a reward for information about the woman’s disappearance. Greene County Crimestoppers also is offering a reward for information.
Ashley Boelter is feeling helpless. She has lined up professional search teams in Indianapolis and in Cincinnati that she says are ready to travel to Bloomfield if local police give their OK. “I have called the town marshal in charge, and no one is getting back to me. We are out of the loop as to what the police have to say,” Ashley Boelter said from her home in Carson City, Nevada. “When I talked to the sergeant at the state police, he told me that calling in search teams could hinder their investigation, so they would not authorize it.”
ISP 1st Sgt. Paul Suding said Tuesday that any independent searches at this time by a non-law enforcement group could possibly hurt the integrity of any discovered evidence, and possibly the outcome of the case.
Ashley Boelter said that from what she has learned, her sister-in-law was last seen walking across a gravel parking lot near the IGA, where she reportedly got into a car with a man. The information came from a former boyfriend of the missing woman. The sister-in-law claims that the ex-boyfriend said he talked to the missing woman and suggested she catch a ride with him, but instead, she left the area in a car with a man he did not recognize.
“None of us believes that is what happened,” Ashley Boelter said. “I try not to, but my gut instinct and avid-criminal-show-watching brain is thinking that something bad may have happened to her.”
Bloomfield IGA Manager Matt Williams said Boelter has worked at the store about six months, putting in 30 hours a week at the deli counter. He said his employees have been cooperating with police and answering questions, and that they spoke to David Boelter when he came to the store on Tuesday. The store has fliers on the door about Boelter’s disappearance. “We are hoping for the best,” he said.
Marina Boelter had lived in Ohio with her father until about four years ago, her sister-in-law said, when she moved to Bloomfield to live with her mother, Tressie Palmer. The missing woman’s grandfather, Craven Palmer, lives in Greene County as well; neither could be reached on Tuesday. Marina Boelter has a 9-month-old son who was not living with his mother when she went missing.
"She was getting her life on track after having some struggles,” Ashley Boelter said. She last heard from her sister-in-law in October, when they exchanged Facebook messages. “We were offering her support as she took steps to get her life together for her and her son,” she said. “We have been trying for years to get her to move out here with us, to start a fresh life.”
Originally Posted by marshmallow
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