Former Maryland Teacher Named Person Of Interest In 2000 Murder

(Updated at 3:15 p.m. Thursday): BETHESDA, MD — Montgomery County Police announced Thursday that a former Maryland teacher is a person of interest in the high-profile murder case of Alison Thresher, who disappeared from Bethesda in May 2000.

Fernando Asturizaga, 51, from Vermont was convicted of sexually abusing Thresher's daughter from 1999 to 2001 while teaching at Friends Community School in College Park and while working as the Thresher's babysitter. Asturizaga is now deemed a suspect in Thresher's murder.

Thresher went missing in May 2000, and in February 2001 police said the case was being investigated as a homicide. She was 45 at the time of her disappearance, and a divorced mother of two.

Police announced Asturizaga is a person of interest at a Thursday press conference, based on a recent forensic analysis of evidence that was gathered in Thresher's Sangamore Road apartment at the time she went missing.

At the time of Thresher's disappearance, Asturizaga was 33-years-old and was a Spanish teacher at the Friends Community School in College Park. He lived in College Park and also coached soccer, was an after-school care provided and a summer camp employee.

Both of Thresher's children, Hannah and Sam, attended the school. Asturizaga was Hannah's Spanish teacher.

In 2010, Hannah told the Montgomery County Police Department that Asturizaga had victimized her by becoming "involved in an inappropriate and illegal sexual relationship with her from approximately 1999 to 2001, when he was a teacher and she was a student at the school." police said.

Hannah was ten-years-old at the time of the abuse, while Asturizaga was 32.

Police charged Asturizaga with multiple counts of second-degree rape, second-degree sexual offense and child abuse. He was sentenced to well over 100 years for these crimes in 2012.

Detectives believe Thresher "had suspicions that her daughter was being victimized by Asturizaga and had notified the school, her ex-husband James Thresher, and Asturizaga of her concerns," police said.

"Soon after (Thresher) made her suspicions known, she disappeared," Hannah said at the press conference. "A few months later, when I expressed frustration at his lack of empathy towards my grief over the loss of my mother, FA said to me: ‘I thought things would be easier for us now that she’s gone.’ At the time I didn’t think anything of it. After nine or ten years of reflection I started to question if his words meant something more."

When Thresher disappeared 18 years ago, investigators were unable to develop a suspect based on available evidence. Police believe the suspect(s) attempted to destroy evidence at the scene.

At the time of his arrest, Asturizaga refused to speak to investigators about Thresher's disappearance and all leads in the homicide investigation had been exhausted.

Detectives believe Thresher may have been murdered inside her apartment. They think her body was moved to an unknown location, as it has not been located. Detectives also think Thresher's car was moved from her apartment complex and abandoned by the suspect(s) on Broad Street in the Brookmont neighborhood, about a mile from her residence.

Police said Thresher's family reported her as a missing person after she didn't show up to the first day of her new job. Thresher was scheduled to begin a new position as a part-time copy editor at The Washington Post.

At Thursday's press conference, Hannah made the following statement:

“I speak to you today in hopes that someone, somewhere, will see this story and remember something, anything, that will help us in the search to find justice for our mother, whose life was taken from her nearly 18 years ago, and whose body has never been located.

In a January New York Times article, Bindu Bansinath wrote that ‘to groom girls, you must erase mothers.’ This is what FA did – he erased our mother so that he could ensure his own freedom, and continued to abuse me, both sexually and emotionally, for yet another year, in addition to the two years that had already passed since the abuse began. She had grown suspicious of him, and knew that our relationship was far from appropriate, which she made known to both him and others. I denied it vehemently, as I had been groomed to do by FA.

Soon after she made her suspicions known, she disappeared. A few months later, when I expressed frustration at his lack of empathy towards my grief over the loss of my mother, FA said to me: ‘I thought things would be easier for us now that she’s gone.’ At the time I didn’t think anything of it. After 9 or 10 years of reflection I started to question if his words meant something more.

FA took nearly everything from me – 3 years of my life, my youth, my innocence, my happiness and optimism for the future- but like others who have suffered, I am resilient. For my mom, I need the whole truth to come out. Despite the trial that ensued when I came forward about his abuse, and the resulting 100-some years that he was sentenced to spend in prison, there are still questions to be answered.

So, if you have any information that may help in the search for justice for Alison Thresher, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, please contact the police.

Just as I did, you may not have noticed it at the time. But now, looking back, it might be more meaningful."

Detectives put together the below timeline of Thresher's disappearance to assist the public in recalling any information that might be pertinent to this case:

• April 28, 1999: Alison writes a letter to Asturizaga imploring him to not have contact with daughter.
• June 9, 1999: Alison writes a letter to Friends Community School voicing her concerns about Asturizaga having an “inappropriate relationship” with her daughter.
• July 1, 1999: Alison writes a letter to her attorney advising she has heard from other parents who are concerned about Asturizaga relationship with their daughters.
• January 2000: Alison calls Asturizaga and again voices concerns about his relationship with her daughter Hannah. Asturizaga continues to babysit Hannah while she is in the custody of her father.
• February 2000: Alison and Asturizaga become involved in an altercation outside of Alison’s ex-husband’s (Hannah’s father’s) home about Asturizaga continuing to babysit Hannah.
• March 18, 2000: From an entry in Alison’s journal; “Mad about my thoughts about F (Fernando). Stress that lines of demarc-he is a teacher. Many people have concerns about male babysitters-teenagers. Sometimes too stimulating for them.”
• May 23, 2000: Allison leaves her parents' home after having dinner there at 8 p.m. She spoke with a friend on the phone at 10 p.m., and sent an email to a friend at 11:51 p.m. and 12:17 a.m.
• May 24, 2000: Sometime between 4-5 a.m., a neighbor of Alison's hears cries coming from her apartment. A "suspicious male" is seen running though the Brookmont neighborhood, away from where Alison's car was later located, at 6 a.m. The physical description of the subject matches Asturizaga. Alison fails to report to work at 7 a.m. A resident sees Alison's vehicle parked on Broad Street at 10 a.m.
• May 25, 2000: Alison is reported missing to the Montgomery County Police Department by her sister. Her vehicle is recovered by officers on Broad Street in Bethesda.

Police published the below letter that Alison Thresher wrote to Asturizaga on April 28, 1999:

"I write to you as someone who’s been a friend and great help to me and my family the last couple years. Several times over the last several months I have expressed my concern to you that my daughter, Hannah, has formed an excessive emotional bond with you. When I made it clear that I did not want the two of you to be alone together, you assured me that you would, in fact, no longer babysit for Hannah and Sam. That was not true. And this lead me to wonder whether this unnatural attachment is a mutual one. Frankly, I am disappointed. I would hope as an employee of an educational institution you would be more sensitive to these concerns. If you know of any reason that you cannot meet this requirement, please advise me at once."

Thresher wrote the following letter to Friends Community School on June 9, 1999:

This is to reiterate:

1. I continue to be very concerned about the inappropriate relationship that Fernando Asturizaga has allowed to continue between him and Hannah Thresher.
2. I will continue to actively withhold my permission for Hannah to attend Friends Community School in the 1999-2000 school year.
3. I am not and will not be responsible for any financial obligation incurred by James Thresher with Friends Community School.
4. I will not bring Hannah to work at Friends Community School summer camps in 1999, because of Fernando Asturizaga's relationship with Hannah. I do not give my permission for James Thresher to bring Hannah to work at Friends Community School summer camps. In addition, for an 11-year-old to be so employed is a violation of Maryland child labor laws.

I find it amazing and reckless that you, Friends Community School Board members and Fernando ASTURIZAGA would side with James THRESHER in a court battle in which he seeks to take Hannah and Sam THRESHER away from their mother. That you and the school and the school board would forgive Mr. THRESHER’s longstanding past debt is evidence that you and the board have taken sides in what is becoming an ever more public battle.

The Charley Project reports a $647.08 check was mysteriously deposited into her bank account in April 2012.

"The check had been issued in her name by the Maryland Department of Human Resources in March 2000," the organization says. "The amount reflected child support collected by agency from Thresher's former husband."

Major Crimes Detectives urge anyone with information about the murder of Alison Thresher to call the Unit at 240-773-5070. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Detectives are also asking anyone who believes that he/she has information regarding inappropriate contact or sexual victimization involving Asturizaga to call detectives.

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Photo via MCPD