Monday, August 17, 2020

The Disappearance of Crystal Grebinger


Crystal Grebinger has been missing since February 8th, 2013. 

The then-32-year-old woman vanished just weeks after filing for divorce from her husband Sean Grebinger. Crystal and Sean had been married for sixteen years and they lived in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. However, at the time of her disappearance, Crystal was living at a shelter for abused women.

Sean was reportedly abusive towards Crystal throughout their marriage. In fact, in November 2012, Crystal obtained a protective order to keep Sean away from both her and her four children. He reportedly violated that order on more than one occasion. On January 14th, 2013, Crystal finally filed for divorce.

Crystal was last seen on February 8th at the women's shelter. She left the shelter that afternoon and never returned. Crystal had several child custody hearings scheduled over the following weeks, but she did not show up to any of them. Her children were living with relatives at the time, but Crystal was hoping to gain full custody of them. Knowing that Crystal would not voluntarily miss those hearings, her worried family members reported her missing on February 18th. 

Sean was identified as a person of interest in Crystal's disappearance very early into the investigation. Unfortunately, though, investigators were unable to locate him. He reportedly dropped out of sight just two days after Crystal was last seen, and years passed without any knowledge of his whereabouts.

Eventually, it was learned that Sean had moved to Brazil. He reportedly obtained residency there after falsely claiming that he was an American Special Forces agent facing political persecution in the United States. Sean eventually married a Brazilian resident as well. He would occasionally answer questions about Crystal's case on his Facebook page, but he repeatedly denied involvement in her disappearance.

On January 31st, 2020, Sean was arrested in Brazil after assaulting his wife. He was released on a provisional without bail, but at that point, investigators in the United States learned about his location. In February 2020, it was announced that Sean would be extradited to the United States to face murder charges in Crystal's disappearance.

source: KATC

He was arrested again and held in a Brazilian jail as he awaited extradition. Days later, Sean was found hanged in his jail cell. His death was ruled a suicide. Sean left behind notes to his family and friends, but he did not reveal any information about Crystal's whereabouts. 

Crystal remains missing today. The only trace of her that has been found is a shoe that she was believed to have been wearing on the day of her disappearance. Said shoe was found near Lake Fausse Pointe, a swamp park area approximately 20 miles away from Lafayette. It is believed that Crystal was murdered by Sean, but unfortunately authorities were never able to formally charge him.

If you have any information that could lead to Crystal's whereabouts, please go here to submit an anonymous tip.

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