Episode 131: Ashley Goodrich – Bite-Sized Crime

When a woman goes missing in a small town, her family searches for answers. Did Ashley walk away from her life, or was she the victim of foul play?

Episode Media

Ashley Nicole Clodgo Goodrich *(Facebook)*

Garrett Given and Ashley Goodrich in September of 2021 *(Donna Wilkins Photography / FB)*

2022 Subaru WRX similar to the one Ashley may have been driving *(Reddit)*

Police are searching for this 2009 Ford Explorer with Vermont plates *(Fair Haven PD)*

Vermont State Police executed a search warrant at Garrett Given’s home in Fair Haven *(MyChamplainValley.com)*

Episode Sources

Episode Transcript

Welcome back to Bite-Sized Crime. This week I’m bringing you a case that was recommended to me by a listener. It’s a missing persons case with little information but lots of questions and many rumors swirling around a small town. This episode discusses sensitive topics, so listener discretion is advised.

Ashley Clodgo Goodrich grew up in Addison County, Vermont, right on the border of New York State. The oldest of her siblings, Ashley was always up for an adventure. She loved spending time outdoors, fishing and hunting in the Vermont woods.

In 2006, at the age of 19, Ashley gave birth to her son Devon. When the relationship with her son’s father ended, Ashley found herself in a fierce custody battle that lasted for years. Ashley eventually married another man and had a son and daughter. Ashley loved her children and wanted to be the best mother she could be, and she wanted to have all of her children together. She continued to fight to get custody of Devon.

It’s unclear when Ashley’s marriage ended, but in September of 2021, Ashley married again, this time to a man named Garrett Given. Garrett and Ashley lived in a little log house in Fair Haven, about an hour south of where Ashley grew up. The house sat on the state line, the last house in Vermont before crossing over the border into New York.

Not long after Ashley and Garrett’s wedding, Ashley was finally granted custody of Devon, who was now 14 years old. On October 17th, Ashley’s sister Aaron drove down to Fair Haven to help move Devon into Ashley and Garrett’s home. Aaron later recalled how Ashley was in good spirits that weekend, that she was so happy to have her son back.

But after Aaron returned home, all communication with her sister stopped. Ashley wouldn’t answer the phone or respond to any text messages from family members. There had been silent periods before, times of estrangement between Ashley and her family, but this time seemed different. Ashley had been in such a good place when Aaron left her; why had she suddenly cut off communication?

Ashley’s family reached out to Garrett, hoping for some answers. Ashley’s mom Jody told WCAX that Garrett just offered generic reassurances. “He would have conversations with me and tell me she was well, she’s healthy, she looks good, and we never were able to see that.”

According to the Rutland Herald, Ashley’s family reached out to the Fair Haven Police Department and requested a welfare check after not hearing from her for a few days. Fair Haven Police Chief William Humphries told the Herald that at the time, they checked a residence in Weybridge, Vermont, almost 40 miles north of Fair Haven. It’s unclear what led them to that location or what ties Ashley had to that town, but whatever the reason, police were not able to make contact with Ashley and didn’t search any further.

Over the next year, Ashley’s family continued to reach out and check on her, but Garrett kept giving one reason after another as to why they couldn’t talk to her. Perhaps Ashley’s previous pattern of dropping off the radar led them to wait so long before contacting the police again, but finally, in December of 2022, the family officially filed a missing persons report with the Fair Haven Police Department.

On December 29th, Chief Humphries went to Ashley and Garrett’s home to perform a welfare check. Garrett told the chief a very different story than the one he told Ashley’s family: He said that Ashley had left; she was living somewhere else and wanted to keep her new location a secret. Garrett even produced Facebook messages between Ashley and himself to corroborate his story. Without a search warrant or any proof of foul play, Chief Humphries couldn’t push any further. He asked Garrett to have Ashley contact the police department and tell them she was okay. Unsurprisingly, Ashley never called.

Later that afternoon, the Fair Haven Police Department posted a missing persons alert on their Facebook page. The post mentioned that Ashley may have been driving a blue Subaru WRX with gold wheels and a temporary Vermont license plate. This information most likely came from Garrett, who would have been the last person to see Ashley.

As expected, comments on the Facebook post were a mixture of concern and speculation and judgment. Several commenters mentioned possible sightings of Ashley across Vermont in the time since she disappeared. One commenter unearthed a court document from July of 2022 where a woman named Ashley Goodrich was appealing a DUI charge from a September 2020 traffic stop in the town of Rutland. According to the filing, the Ashley Goodrich in question had been driving a red Subaru Impreza with a temporary tag. The document doesn’t provide any other identifying information, so it’s possible that the appeal was filed by a different Ashley Goodrich, but it’s certainly worth considering when trying to put together a timeline. If Ashley was filing court appeals almost a year after she was last seen by her family, that would change the case in a significant way.

In addition to the spotty timeline, there are a lot of information gaps in Ashley’s case, especially when it comes to her children. We know now that the children are all safe with family members, but where were they when Ashley disappeared in October of 2021? Her son Devon had just moved in with her and Garrett – was he there when Ashley supposedly left to start her secret life? It seems unlikely that a mother who was so excited to get her son back would suddenly walk away from him without a word. I can only hope that detectives have more information about this than we do.

In June of 2023, six months after Fair Haven Police took up the case and nearly two years after Ashley disappeared, investigators were finally able to execute two search warrants at Ashley and Garrett’s house. One search involved bringing in heavy equipment, including excavators. Chief Humphries told the Herald that agents from the Vermont State Police and the Department of Homeland Security were participating in the investigation, but he couldn’t provide any details. “I can’t disclose what evidence we’ve recovered and haven’t recovered.”

In late July, Fair Haven Police announced that they were looking for another car in connection with Ashley’s disappearance – a gray 2009 Ford Explorer. A picture of the vehicle loaded on the back of a trailer accompanied the post, its Vermont license plate clearly visible. According to the post, the car was last seen around the same time Ashley disappeared, and police were asking anyone with information to come forward, whether they had bought the car or seen it scrapped or sold for parts.

By this time, the community was buzzing with rumors, with many locals pointing the finger at Ashley’s husband, Garrett Given. Garrett was known around town for his experience with cars – buying, selling, and scrapping. One rumor circulating the town was that Garrett had been seen loading the missing Ford Explorer on the back of a U-Haul trailer on the day Ashley disappeared. It was suggested that perhaps Garrett had done something to Ashley and then taken her car to a junkyard and put it under a hydraulic compactor, crushing the car and any evidence within.

Of course, this was just a rumor with nothing to back it up. On the other hand, Garrett wasn’t doing anything to help clear his name; instead, he was busy dodging warrants completely unrelated to Ashley’s case.

Back in March of 2023, Garrett had allegedly set a vehicle on fire in the town of Whitehall, about 10 miles west of his home in Fair Haven. For five months, Garrett evaded arrest, until finally, on August 30th, Vermont State Police tracked him down just south of the Canadian border. Garrett was arrested and extradited to New York where he faced charges of arson, conspiracy, criminal mischief, and insurance fraud.

After his arraignment, Garrett was released on his own recognizance; in other words, the state trusted that Garrett would come back for his next court proceeding without further issue. But before long, Garrett found himself in hot water again, behind bars in a New York correctional center. According to the Newport Dispatch, while in jail, Garrett had violated a no-contact order set by the court, calling the protected person over 20 times and even offering to give them a car if the charges against him were dropped.

While Garrett focused on his legal troubles, Ashley’s family continued to search for her. In July of 2024, a team of professional divers got wind of Ashley’s case. Bill McIntosh of Adventures with Purpose headed to Vermont to speak with residents and scope out some areas of interest where a vehicle could be hidden or disposed of. Bill’s theory of the case was that whoever was involved in Ashley’s disappearance may have dumped her car in one of the nearby lakes or rivers. There are also multiple quarries and abandoned mines in the area that would be ideal for someone wishing to hide evidence. Ultimately, Bill returned home without any new leads on Ashley’s whereabouts, but her family was grateful for his help in bringing attention to Ashley’s story.

In an interview with WCAX in November of 2023, Chief Humphries asserted that his detectives were still actively working Ashley’s case, looking at it from two opposing viewpoints: either Ashley was alive and purposefully staying away from her family, or she had fallen victim to foul play. “We’ve talked to relatives and we’re following up on leads that were given to them or things that have come up. So, at this point we don’t have any persons of interest to name… Can’t really go into what’s been collected, what hasn’t been collected and the reasons why we did the search warrants. But the evidence that we have so far led to the warrants we have done.”

Ashley’s mother Jody told WCAX that it was heartbreaking to have so few answers in her daughter’s disappearance. “It’s so hard. I just want to bring her home… I want to hug her. I want to hear her voice. I want her to see her children.”

On October 24, 2024, Garrett Given was released on parole by the New York Department of Corrections. He is scheduled to be in a Vermont court again on November 18th on charges unrelated to Ashley’s case. Garrett has not been named as a suspect or person of interest in Ashley’s disappearance and is innocent until proven guilty.

As of this recording, Ashley Goodrich is still a missing person. She was last seen by her sister on October 17, 2021, at her home on Prospect Street in Fair Haven, Vermont. At the time of her disappearance, Ashley was 34 years old, standing 5’1” tall with hazel eyes and dyed blonde hair. She may have been driving a blue Subaru WRX with gold wheels and a temporary Vermont license plate. Police are also looking for a gray 2009 Ford Explorer with Vermont plates HWM 692. Pictures of Ashley and the vehicles in question can be seen on the podcast website.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Ashley Goodrich, please contact the Fair Haven Police Department at 802-265-8293. And share Ashley’s story on social media – you never know who may have the key to solving the case.