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Mystery surrounds disappearance of young mother at N.H. ski area parking lot

Print Posted by John Ellement April 25, 2011 05:27 PM

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By David Abel, Globe Staff

It’s a mystery that police say is likely a crime.

Conway Police

Krista Dittmeyer

On Saturday, a 14-month old girl was found in the car seat of a late-model Nissan Sentra, which was left running, with its hazard lights flashing, in the parking lot of a ski resort in New Hampshire.

The mother, Krista Dittmeyer, 20, of Portland, Maine, has not been seen since, sparking fears that she may have been abducted or harmed, police said today. The toddler was healthy.

“We have certainly not classified this as a homicide,’’ said Lieutenant Chris Perley of the Conway Police Department, in a telephone interview. “But we are monumentally concerned that the young woman has been separated from her family and friends for over 48 hours now.’’

He said investigators searched the area where the car was found at the Cranmore Mountain ski area parking lot in Conway. Police obtained warrants to search Dittmeyer’s car as well as another vehicle found in North Conway, which Perley said may be related to her disappearance.

However, he declined to say what evidence investigators have found that leads them to believe Dittmeyer’s disappearance was a crime.

“What I can say is that there’s nothing to indicate that she would voluntarily absent herself,” Perley said.

He said police have identified the toddler’s father but he is not a suspect.

“We have a lot of theories about what happened, but we’re not going to disclose them right now,” he said. “This is an ongoing investigation.”

He said no arrests had been made as of this afternoon.

Dittmeyer’s relatives did not return messages left at their home in Maine.

Kayla Dittmeyer told The Portland Press Herald that her sister worked as a waitress in South Portland and that she was a single mother who revered her daughter.

"She would never, ever do that (abandon her child)," her sister told the Press Herald. "She would do anything for her .... It was all so out of character for her. She would never put her daughter in harm's way."

Officials at Lake Region School District in Bridgton, where Dittmeyer was a student, declined to comment. Dittmeyer graduated from Lake Region High School in 2008.

John R. Ellement of the Globe staff contributed to this report.