03/02/2025
PUBLIC MEMO: Seeking Justice and Answers for Celeste Diana Doghmi
Subject: Community Support Needed for the Disappearance of Celeste Doghmi
To the Auburn, Maine Community and Beyond,
I am reaching out to ask for your help in seeking justice for Celeste Diana Doghmi, a young mother who vanished without a trace from our neighborhood. Celeste was last heard from via phone call on July 6, 2021, yet she was not officially reported missing until 2023—and only because DHHS and CPS could not locate her regarding her son’s custody. Shockingly, the last person to see her alive—her abusive boyfriend and father of her child—never reported her missing and has never been charged with her disappearance.
What We Know:
💫Celeste lived at 85 Academy St, Auburn, Maine near the Spring St. Hannaford.
💫She was a loving mother, preparing to start college to provide a better future for her young son. She never would have abandoned her son.
💫She showed signs of physical abuse before she disappeared and had previously broken up with her boyfriend when she was pregnant, due to physical violence.
💫Her boyfriend & son's father, John Alexander Benton, has since been arrested three separate times for domestic violence but is currently out on parole. He was the last one to see her alive and NEVER reported her missing!
💫 She was originally from Florida and did not have family in Maine to check on her. She had moved here to be with her boyfriend.
💫 Though it has not been confirmed, it is believed that her son remains in DHHS custody due to unsafe living conditions with John Alexander Benton.
💫To this day, I do not believe there has been a cohesive, forensic search for Celeste. The case was already "cold" by the time she was reported missing by government agencies in 2023 (2 years after she was last seen).
Law Enforcement Status:
The Maine State Major Crimes Unit is handling her case, after it was transferred from Detective Terrence McCormick of the Auburn Police Department. However, there has been no significant progress in finding her. It is believed that authorities have not conducted a forensic investigation—no known searches of her last known location, CCTV footage trackong, no tracking of her phone logs, financials, or cell location history to determine her last movements.
What Needs to Happen:
💫A thorough forensic search of the locations she was last seen, including:
💫Basements, front and back gardens, abandoned houses, railroad tracks (200ft away), and the Androscoggin River.
💫Implementation of search dogs (MESARD - Maine Search and Rescue Dogs) to help locate potential remains, as this would be a large area to canvass.
💫Tracking her last cell phone activity and financial transactions to establish a timeline. Her last Facebook post was 7/22/21.
💫Media attention to spread awareness and put pressure on law enforcement to act.
How You Can Help:
1. Share Celeste’s story—on social media, with local news outlets, and with anyone who may have known her.
2. Demand action from law enforcement—contact the Maine State Major Crimes Unit at a207-624-7143 OR 207-657-5710 request a forensic investigation!
3. Listen to the podcast episodes or read about her case on the Sun Journal site or Reddit so that you're familiar with her story.
4. Provide any tips or information to the authorities—even small details could lead to a break in the case.
Final Thoughts:
Celeste’s disappearance is not just a cold case—it is an open wound in our community. A young mother does not simply walk away from her child. If Celeste were alive, she would have found a way to reach out, especially for her son. The fact that she vanished without a trace, without any of her belongings, is deeply alarming.
If she were your daughter, your sister, your friend—you would not rest until she was found. Let’s not stop searching for Celeste. Let’s demand justice for her, for her child, and for every woman who has been failed by a system that does not take domestic violence and missing women seriously enough.
For more information, you can listen to Celeste’s case on Dark Downeast’s podcast episode: https://darkdowneast.com/celestedoghmi/.
There is also an extremely thorough article by Crime Reporter Joe Charpentier at the Sun Journal that can be read here: https://www.sunjournal.com/?p=10859424&uuid=931df6d1-3391-46ad-b405-f35f990faded&lid=29068
If you have any insights, ideas, or connections that could help, please reach out. Celeste deserves to be found.
