The Disappearance of Christina Voltaire: Florida Woman Vanishes Without a Trace

Christina Voltaire was a bright, young woman with big dreams, and big goals, in 2011.

But Christina wasn’t just dreaming. She was putting her plans into motion.

She was attending Keiser University in Winter Haven, Florida, and studying Nuclear Medicine.

In January of 2011, Christina started to figure out a plan for her future. While she was attending school in Winter Haven, she was planning to transfer to the Keiser University Campus in Palm Bay, Florida so she could be closer to her father.

That spring, she was planning a trip to visit her mother in Haiti, something she was looking forward to.

On January 8, 2011, Christina woke up and decided to head out to a nearby IHOP for breakfast. While at the restaurant, however, she started not feeling well.

Christina had a hair appointment that day also, but she canceled it believing she was coming down with something and just wanted to go home and rest.

That evening, just after 7:00 p.m., Christina heard a knock at her apartment door. It was her friend, Charles. She was in her robe and nightgown, but she knew Charles well and opened the door for him. He said his car broke down a couple of blocks away and asked if he could borrow her car. She said sure.

He returned an hour or so later, but Christina wasn’t home. The door was unlocked, so Charles went in to see if she was there but noticed that her robe was on her bed, and she was nowhere to be found.

Figuring she went out, he left but continued to try and check in with her all night.

Finally, by the next morning, Charlie knew something was wrong and called to report Christina missing.

Where is Christina Voltaire?

Christina Voltaire was born on August 1, 1988 in Haiti. She lived in Haiti with her parents until she was about nine years old. Christina’s father would love to the States, specifically the coastal town of Melbourne, Florida.

Christina and her father would live for a bit in Melbourne, with her father eventually moving to the city of Palm Bay, Florida.

As a young adult, Christina graduated high school and decided to pursue a career in Nuclear Medicine at Keiser University. She was smart hard-working, and excited to go into the medical field.

While attending Keiser University, Christina met and began dating a man by the name of Dieuseul Pierre-Gilles. In 2008, Dieuseul and Christina had an on-again, off-again relationship when Christina became pregnant.

She gave birth to a little girl in January of 2009. Christina was 20 years old.

Something tragic would occur just a year later, in January of 2010, and the little girl passed away. She was just one year old, and Christina was understandably devastated- as was Dieuseul. The cause of death was never revealed publicly.

When Dieuseul went to submit some necessary insurance paperwork regarding the girl’s death, he learned something that shocked him. He was not listed on the birth certificate as the girl’s father, something he hadn’t known.

Dieuseul said he was heartbroken and upset over this fact, but he wasn’t mad at Christina at that time because she was so distraught over losing her baby.

Christina and Dieuseul would maintain a friendship after this.

As the year progressed, Christina began to bounce back. She continued her schooling and was making plans to visit her mother in Haiti in the spring of 2011.

THE DISAPPEARANCE.

On January 8, 2011, Christina was living alone at the Berkshire Apartments in Winter Haven, Florida. She was still studying Nuclear Medicine at Keiser and was planning on moving down to Palm Bay soon to be near her father. She was going to continue her studies at the Keiser Campus near Palm Bay.

That morning Christina woke up as usual and decided to head to IHOP for breakfast. It was a Saturday and she planned to do some running around that morning, including doing some shopping and going to her hair appointment later on.

However, at some point during that breakfast, Christina started not feeling well. At 10:35 a.m., she used someone’s phone at IHOP (Christina herself didn’t have a cell phone) and canceled her hair appointment.

She then headed back to her apartment and was back inside by noon.

Just after 7:00 p.m. that evening, a friend of Christina’s knocked on her door. It was Charles, Dieuseul’s brother, someone who was a good friend to Christina and also lived in her apartment complex.

Christina was in her robe, but she answered the door and let Charles in. They were good enough friends, and Charles could see that Christina wasn’t feeling well. Aside from being in her robe, she was holding a cup of tea and had her study books scattered across her bed. She told Charles she wasn’t feeling good and was just staying in and studying.

Charles told Christina that his car broke down, just two blocks up the road, and he asked Christina if he could borrow her car. She tossed him the keys, and Charles left.

Charles went back to his car, where he met a mechanic there to look it over and see what was wrong with it. He then headed over to his mom’s to eat, and then back to Christina’s apartment. All of this took him a little less than an hour.

When Charles knocked at Christina’s door, however, Christina didn’t answer. This was odd to him since he had just been there and he knew she wasn’t feeling well. Where would she go?

Worried about her, he tried the door and found it unlocked. Since Charles locked it behind him when he left earlier, he found that odd. He went inside looking for Christina, but she wasn’t there. Her robe was lying across her bed, but he didn’t notice anything else unusual.

Charles eventually went back to his apartment and continued to keep trying to reach Christina by phone. She never answered. He called some mutual friends, but no one had seen or heard from her.

By the morning, Charles believed something had to be wrong. He called some hospitals looking for her, and then eventually he called the Winter Haven Police Department to report her missing.

Christina Voltaire had disappeared.

THE SEARCH

When Winter Haven police arrived on the scene, they said they took it very seriously from the beginning. One of the officers at the time said, the minute he saw Christina’s purse and wallet left behind he immediately became very concerned.

The apartment provided no real clues and looked as if Christina had just walked out of the apartment.

The next step for law enforcement was to interview both Charles and Dieuseul.

Charles being the last one to see Christina was scrutinized closely. Dieuseul also said he believed his brother and Christina had a more than friends type of relationship, but Charles denied this.

Police were able to verify Charles’ alibi that night with the mechanic he met with, and his mother.

It was also Charles who reported her missing and was the one who seemed the most upset and worried. Law enforcement said Charlie was extremely cooperative, and they didn’t believe he had anything to do with Christina’s disappearance.

Authorities wanted to look pretty hard at Dieuseul also, but he was less cooperative. Of course, this made people suspicious, and very quickly Dieuseul also obtained an attorney. He never spoke with law enforcement regarding Christina.

He did have to provide an alibi, however. He was allegedly out of town during that weekend she vanished, and his alibi was confirmed.

Law enforcement didn’t believe Dieuseul was involved in Christina’s disappearance either.

This means, that sometime between when Charlie stopped over to ask her to borrow her car, and when he returned less than an hour later, Christina vanished into thin air.

Law enforcement also questioned neighbors to see if they had heard or seen anything during the time she went missing, and no one had.

They also looked at her computer for any clues but found only schoolwork and school-related information on her laptop.

Police were baffled. Family and friends were baffled. Everyone was wondering, where was Christina?

She wasn’t feeling good, so where would she go?

Charles had her car, so did someone pick her up? Or, did she leave on foot?

Christina also didn’t have any credit cards or banking information to trace for activity. She didn’t have a cell phone, and her passport had expired, squashing any theories that she had gone to Haiti to see her mother.

Authorities put out a plea to the public for information, but tips coming in were few and far between.

Detectives had no clues to go on. No sightings. No trail to follow with a cell phone or banking. No evidence of a struggle or anything amiss at her apartment.

There was just nothing.

WINTER HAVEN, FLORIDA.

Winter Haven, Florida is a central Florida city with a population of around 49,000 residents.

Winter Haven is now home to Legoland and Cypress Gardens, which bring in many tourists throughout the year, however, Legoland wasn’t technically open to the public until the fall of 2011.

But Winter Haven still brought in many tourists due to their famous ‘Chain of Lakes’. Winter Haven is home to 50 lakes within its boundaries, including a “Chain of Lakes’ that is connected by a canal system.

These lakes are popular for visitors looking for the serenity and beauty of the water, birdwatching, and even watersports.

Christina was living at Berkshire Apartment Complex on Avenue K Southeast. This looks to be a mixed commercial and residential two-lane road, with many apartment buildings. The road runs east and south and is surrounded by lakes. Many lakes.

Winter Haven is about an hour southwest of Orlando. Lakeland, Florida is about a half hour to the west of Winter Haven, and Tampa is an hour to the west.

Florida is a very heavily populated state, so there are many transportation options. Plane, bus, train….however, there was no record of Christina traveling anywhere.

THE QUESTIONS.

There are always tons of questions in any unsolved missing person case, but sometimes, we have such little information to go on, that it’s hard to even know what to ask.

Here are some questions I have:

What were the physical/area searches like around her apartment?

Did anyone find anything at all that belonged to Christina?

Who else was in Christina’s life at that time? Who else was she close to?

We know she didn’t have a cell phone, but what about her landline phone records? Did she receive any calls- or make any calls- during that hour time frame that Charles had her car?

Did neighbors or friends provide any other information that might be useful in finding Christina? Such as any additional plans she was making, etc.

I’m curious to know what you think of Christina’s story.

There is zero evidence of foul play.

There is zero evidence she left on her own to start a new life somewhere.

There is no evidence of an accident.

All of this, and she vanished within a time of less than an hour, from a busy area.

It would have been dark. It was evening and it was January. But at 7–8 p.m., people are still out and about. Yet no one came forward to say they saw anything unusual. And no one said they saw Christina that night either.

So what could have happened to Christina Voltaire?

How can someone disappear without a trace, especially a young, 22-year-old college student?

Christina is described as a black female, standing 5'2" tall and weighing around 120 pounds when she was last seen in January 2011. She was 22 years old then.

Christina had shorter black hair and brown eyes.

She also had a C-section scar on her abdomen.

Christina was last seen in her black nightgown and robe, but her robe was found back in her apartment.

Anyone with any information about Christina Voltaire is asked to contact the Winter Haven Police Department at 863–291–5858, or CrimeStoppers, where tips can be made anonymously, at 1–800–226-TIPS.