The Disappearance of Celeste Doghmi (Maine)

It wasn’t unusual for Celeste Doghmi to go long stretches of time without talking to her friends and family. She’d lost touch with her mother and many of her close friends, but as far as they could tell by posts on social media, her life was busy with a new baby and starting college classes.

But when Celeste’s mother in Germany received a phone call in the spring of 2023, she learned that Celeste hadn’t simply lost touch – she was missing. She’d been missing for two years.

This episode contains descriptions of domestic violence. If you are experiencing domestic violence, free, confidential support is available. Visit thehotline.org or call 1-(800)-799-SAFE.

Where is Celeste?

It was Wednesday, May 3, 2023 and a caseworker from the Maine Office of Child and Family Services, OCFS, was at the door of an apartment on Academy Street in Auburn, Maine. They were looking for 29-year old Celeste Doghmi to speak with her about a parental custody matter. Her toddler-aged son had been taken into state custody when his father was arrested a month earlier and they’d been trying to reach Celeste with no luck since then.

When OCFS arrived at Celeste’s last known address that she once shared with the child’s father, Celeste wasn’t there.

Unable to find her, OCFS worked with the Auburn Police Department to try and make contact with Celeste’s family and those who knew her. Celeste is a German citizen and her biological mother, Stephanie, currently lives in Germany. The mother and daughter had a strained relationship and hadn’t spoken in quite some time when OCFS called Stephanie asking if she’d heard from Celeste.

As everyone would soon learn, no one had seen or spoken to Celeste in almost two years.

Celeste’s Life and Circumstances

Celeste Doghmi moved to the United States from Frankfurt, Germany with her mother, Stephanie, when she was just 2-years old. Celeste’s father was in the military at the time and Stephanie relocated to the States to work on her relationship with him, so although she is a German citizen, Celeste grew up in the US with her childhood and teenage years spent mostly in Florida.

“She was a very, very open young lady,” Stephanie began. “She loved life. She loved her friends. One of her best qualities was her smile. She was always smiling. You always knew what she was feeling by her smile on her face.”

Stephanie spoke to me via Zoom from her home in Germany. She was transparent – It has been years since she had contact with her daughter and since their relationship was on solid ground, but she’s seen Celeste through many different life transitions and challenges.

“She had a big heart and forgave everybody, to a certain fault. She always saw the best in people and how she could improve them, but at the same time she had her own knicks and knacks here and there, where she was still young she wasn’t mature enough. But she definitely left an impression on you when you met her.”

There’s been limited coverage on Celeste’s story since her disappearance came to light last year. Joe Charpentier wrote the most comprehensive story about Celeste for the Sun Journal in October of 2023. According to Joe Charpentier’s piece, Celeste’s childhood was challenging. She struggled at home and in school, she left home and stayed with friends on and off, and she started using drugs and drinking alcohol.

“I think it was around 15, 16 with meeting boys and finding a new freedom and the bond between friends really deepens for those who have known each other since elementary school or middle school, and that’s when she kind of took a turbulent turn somewhere and kind of struggled with life,” Stephanie shared.

Celeste had a few run-ins with the law beginning in her teenage years, from smoking on school property as a juvenile to felony charges when she was 19 and 20-years old. But Celeste wanted to leave that life behind and Stephanie hoped that a new environment would give her daughter the fresh start she needed.

“I moved from Florida to Louisiana in 2018, and that was right after the trouble she got with the law and everything,” Stephanie continued, “And I was like, I’m gonna take you with me, kinda start a new fresh life and get refocused on what you wanna do in life and stuff like that. And from that point on, she knew I meant business.”

Stephanie explained that Celeste had a vision for her future – finding a partner, starting a family, raising children. And in Louisiana, Celeste met someone who she saw this future with. His name was John Alexander Benton.

John worked in landscaping and he had family in Maine, but Stephanie didn’t know much else about John at the time. What she did see, she didn’t like, and she did not approve of Celeste dating him. The mother and daughter were at odds over it, which made their already strained relationship even more tumultuous.

Still, when Stephanie moved to a different state, Celeste went with her, and John came, too. That’s when Stephanie began to see more of the dynamic between Celeste and her boyfriend.

“She lived with me and then we moved from Louisiana to Mississippi, Bay St. Louis, and he moved in with us for about three to four months. So we were all living under one roof and this is where his other side started showing,” Stephanie shared. “He would be doing drugs and he would be getting loud, yelling, hitting, just wrestling with each other. I called the cops on a couple of occasions, but nothing really happened.”

Stephanie says she witnessed John physically abuse Celeste more than once.

“I got to the point where one day I stood up to him and I told him that he needs to stop putting his hands on my daughter. Otherwise, this is really going to escalate beyond just calling the cops. And I was very serious about it. A couple of weeks later, he moved out and went back to Maine.”

With John out of the house, Stephanie hoped it was out of sight, out of mind for Celeste. She tried to prevent any contact between the two of them, but then decided she no longer wanted to be in the middle of it.

“I did not want to be that inserted in my daughter’s life to where I started dictating things. It just didn’t sit well with me and I backed away and she started getting his emails,” Stephanie continued, “And within a month, a month and a half, she packed her bags and flew to Maine after him.”

Celeste Doghmi’s story continues on Dark Downeast. Press play to hear the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.