April 02, 2022
An elementary school teacher at Chebeague island school has been missing from her home in North Yarmouth, Maine since the early hours of Sunday, 30th of September.
47 year old Kristin Westra went missing from the Lufkin road property after several days of sleepless, anxiety inducing nights.
Kristin’s husband, Jay Westra, who is a pediatric oncology nurse, claims that he last saw his wife at around 8PM on the night that she went missing. The couple was in bed, preparing to go to sleep for work the next morning, but when he woke up, Jay told investigators that Kristen was nowhere to be found. He quickly reported her missing.
Kristin is 5”10, 140lbs and has brown eyes and hair. Anyone who believes they have seen her or have any information regarding her disappearance is encouraged to contact the Cumberland County Regional communications center on (207) 893-2810 and selection “option 2”.
Kristin had neglected to take her keys and phone and her car was still parked outside the house.
The Westra’s home is in rural Maine, the property is surrounded by forest and the nearest neighbor is several miles away.
Volunteers and local police have so far searched outwards of a two mile radius around the missing woman’s home and continue to search the local area. It is not known if Kristin took any extra clothes, or any additional items that could indicate a planned or voluntary disappearance.
Kristin had had several sleepless nights and was stressed out due to ongoing renovations at both her home and workplace. The stress seemed to have triggered anxiety and she was struggling to deal with the new feelings of stress and panic. Jay booked her an emergency appointment with a family friend who happened to be a registered nurse and by the end of the meeting Kristin was cleared as not being a risk to herself or others. The missing 42 year old had clearly had a restless night before she went missing, but friends and family members told investigators that Kirstin had no previous history of mental illness and had never been prescribed any medication. They did admit that the school teacher had been stressed out on the days leading up to her disappearance.
After the appointment the Westra’s day continued true to the family routine.
Jay picked up groceries for dinner, they ate together along with their 9 year old daughter and Kristin’s appetite seemed good. She went for a run after dinner and images of her were caught on a CCTV camera mounted on a neighbor’s home. The 47 year old then came back home, showered and tucked in her daughter. Jay and Kristin then retired to their bedroom where they talked about Kristin’s earlier appointment and then read books before going to sleep. Jay said that his wife seemed to be in higher spirits after her appointment and was positive about implementing the plan they had come up with to combat the stress- such as a change in diet, exercise and keeping a diary of her thoughts and feelings. Still, she had problems sleeping that night and after much tossing and turning she finally gave up sleeping and got out of bed.
Jay assumed that she had gone downstairs to start her journal, or that she had went to sleep in the guest room so she wouldn’t disrupt his sleep as he had work the following day. Kristin was very courteous when it came to other people, he said.
The next morning, Jay’s routine continued as usual .He woke up with his daughter at around 6AM and prepared for work while the child got dressed for school. He went to check on Kristin in the guestroom but she wasn’t there. His stomach sank as she checked around the house and realized she was nowhere to be found. Jay said he didn’t want to upset his daughter, so he let her go about her routine while he searched outside for his wife under the guise of walking the dogs.
A friend came by and took his daughter to school while he drove along Kristin’s regular jogging route and searched around town to no avail.
Kristin is into fitness and often ran and did yoga, but her husband believes that it’s unlikely she got out of bed that night to go exercise, as it was raining heavily. He also noticed that the raincoat she usually wore in such weather was locked inside her car.
Four days later local media reported police presence around 83 Gray Road, along route 115. The area was sectioned off with crime scene tape, online articles reported. Police have not yet (at the time of writing this) confirmed if the scene is connected to the disappearance of 47 year old Kirstin Westra.
83 gray Road is just half a mile from Kristin Westra’s home on Lufkin road. It too is a rural property that stands on 17 acres of land.
Mr. Westra claims that he heard no commotion that night that would indicate his wife was taken against her will from the family home. He did notice that the garage door was ever so slightly ajar, but admitted that every now and again the latch would stick and the door wouldn’t close properly. Nothing in the house seemed out of place and there were no signs of a struggle.
Is it possible that Kristin Westra went for a jog that restless night on September 30th and fell victim to foul play? The quickest way to Gray road from the Westra house is to turn left onto steeple Chase Road and go along the ME-115, a run that would likely take just around 10 minutes or so.
UPDATE: A body has been discovered. Two children made the discovery. Although no official confirmations have been made that the body is that of Kristin Westra, Jay Westra made a Facebook status update that read “My heart was crushed today”.
Our thoughts go out to Jay Westra and his family at this difficult time.
UPDATE: The death of Kristin Westra has been ruled a suicide. No further details have been released.
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October 15, 2024