Reward Offered for Missing Woman

Relatives of an Anaheim woman missing for nearly eight months pleaded for the public’s help Monday in getting information on her disappearance, and a national organization offered a $5,000 reward.

The woman’s husband, Donald Mathieu, who authorities said has not been cooperative with investigators, is a suspect in her disappearance, said Anaheim police Sgt. Greg Palmer.

Cindy Casteel-Mathieu, 42, was last seen Aug. 14, 2004, at a family pool party in Buena Park. Police said Casteel-Mathieu and her husband left the party arguing. Mathieu told police that he left the house the next day to buy cigarettes and returned to find her gone.

“We suspect she’s missing under suspicious circumstances,” said Police Chief John Welter. “Unfortunately, we’re not even sure she’s still alive. We need someone to come forward.”

Police say Mathieu has since become a transient and has been staying with friends. The couple’s 7-year-old son has been placed in a foster home. Casteel-Mathieu’s two children from previous marriages, ages 18 and 22, are living on their own.

Casteel-Mathieu worked in the utilities department of the city of Anaheim. She was reported missing when she failed to show up for work. “We’re sure she wouldn’t let her family go through with what we’re going through right now,” said a sobbing Jason Casteel, the woman’s former husband. “We miss her, and we want her to come home.”

The reward was offered by the Carol Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, which has helped find 23 murder suspects and a child-molestation suspect since its founding in 1999.

Anyone with information is urged to call police at (714) 765-1900.