WARRENTON, N.C. (WNCN) — Family members said it’s been more than 50 days without answers since 33-year-old Dana Mustian was last seen at her home in Warrenton on Nov. 30, 2023.
“She was the life of the party. She knew everybody, everybody knew her,” said Dana’s sister-in-law, Megan Mustian.
Mustian said the family started to become concerned when Dana never showed up to her daughter’s 6th birthday party that weekend. Relatives continued to call Dana’s phone but that Sunday it went straight to voicemail. A missing persons report was filed Dec. 4, 2023.
“She loves that little girl more than anything in the world,” said Dana’s older brother, who wanted to remain anonymous.
He said he was always close with his sister and it was unlike her not to answer or check in.
“It’s been a nightmare. I can’t even put into words how somebody just vanishes without a trace,” Dana’s brother said. “I mean, this day in age, with all this technology, cameras everywhere, GPS and all this other stuff, someone can just vanish and no one knows anything about it?”
The family said they’ve stayed in touch with investigators from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, but continue to have very few answers. During that timeframe, they said family, friends and even strangers in nearby communities have pulled together to find Dana.
Megan said people have gone out near Connell Road where she was last dropped off at her home. She said,
“We’ve tried ground searches, ponds, woods, anywhere we could think of,” said Mustian. “People in the community have just rallied and we didn’t realize how loved and how many people knew her.”
It wasn’t until a few weeks later, one of those strangers helped out in a big way. On Facebook, Mustian thanked Claude O’Hagan for offering a $5,000 cash reward to help get answers and bring Dana home.
O’Hagan posted, “As strong as our community ties are to one another, we all are one in the same. I’m 100% convinced that someone in our community knows that answer, rather it be the first or second hand knowledge, someone knows something,” O’Hagan wrote in his post. “For the sake of answers for her family and healing for our community, I need for someone to come forward with real information.”
“We cried… Our family had been trying to raise money to put up a reward ourselves, and we just couldn’t do it,” Mustian said when she found out about the reward. “We don’t have the funds. So when he posted he was going to put that money out for a reward… our whole family just broke down.”
Dana’s brother believes the community’s support has given them some hope.
“Warren County, it’s very rural. There’s a lot of fields and trees,” said Dana’s brother. “Without more information to help us narrow down where she might be at, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. It’s a puzzle and every little piece of information could be the piece of the puzzle.”
“We just want to make sure her voice is heard, and we’re her voice,” added Mustain. “We want to make sure she’s not thrown to the bottom of the pile because of how she lived her life… We just need to know, we need to bring her home for closure, our family needs closure.”
If anyone has information, they are asked to contact the Warren County Sheriff’s Office at 252-257-3364.