Authorities continue search for Dexter woman

Authorities continue to search for a Dexter woman who has been missing for a week. According to Detective Cory Mills with the Dexter Police Department, Crystal Marie Brown-Hart was last seen April 9 in the Dexter and Poplar Bluff areas. Brown-Hart’s family made a missing person’s report April 11 to Butler County authorities. The investigation was subsequently turned over to the Dexter Police Department.

Courtesy of The Dexter Police Department

Mills said Brown-Hart arrived at a residence in Poplar Bluff on Township Line on April 9. Brown-Hart then phoned a friend in Dexter at approximately 2:30 a.m. April 10 and said she was coming back to Dexter because she had to go to work at 6 a.m. The friend too authorities that Brown-Hart seemed confused and disoriented on the phone.

She left alone driving a black four-door Mitsubishi Lancer with a possible Missouri registration of XB2D3M, witnesses said.

A witness at the residence in Poplar Bluff stated Brown-Hart left between 3-3:30 a.m. Mills said her phone's last recorded ping was at the Butler County and Stoddard County line. The phone shut off at approximately 4:10 a.m. April 10. Mills emphasized the the pings are not real reliable. The ping means her cell phone signal hit a cell tower, but it could be 15 miles away. Also this does not mean Brown-Hart was in the same location as her phone.

Mills stated the Butler County Sheriff's Department performed a thorough search of the residence in Poplar Bluff and nothing belonging to Brown-Hart was found. The Stoddard County Sheriff's Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol have assisted with the search.

The highway patrol searched the area with a helicopter in an effort to locate the vehicle. The water patrol also sent divers into the St. Francis River to search for Brown-Hart and her vehicle, with no success.

Mills stated there is no evidence of foul play, but they have not ruled it out either. Mills said they have followed up on 36 leads and interviewed numerous possible witnesses. Mills also said possibility exists that she does not want to be found.

Mills said there have been multiple sightings reported in the Malden and Poplar Bluff areas, none of which could be confirmed as Brown-Hart. Mils stated the department investigated a sighting in a Malden bar. However, after reviewing the security footage, it was determined it was not Brown-Hart.

Mills also stated that a residence on J Highway near Puxico was searched but nothing was found to indicate Brown-Hart had been there prior to or after her disappearance.

Brown-Hart, 39, is described as 4-feet, 11-inches weighing 100 pounds.

Anyone with any information on this case should contact Mills at the Dexter Police Department at 573-624-5512.