Friends and family thought they knew almost everything about her. Then, Antoinette Forbes disappeared

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains descriptions of domestic violence. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available at the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text “START” to 88788. The hotline is toll-free and confidential. Help is available 24/7.

“Is Antoinette with you?”

It was Labor Day, and the late-night call was unexpected, and a little confusing, but Elizabeth Northrup answered anyway.

“No,” she told her friend over the phone, “Why, what’s going on?”

There was a brief pause, then, “Something’s wrong … the police are here at her house.”

Within minutes, Northrup was out the door and in the car; navigating the short drive across Washington, DC, to the home of one of her closest friends. As she drove, she cycled through a myriad of scenarios in her head, but what she saw as she turned onto Nebraska Avenue made the worst seem possible.

Police cruisers with lights flashing. Confused neighbors milling on the sidewalk. Officers inside, walking past the picture window of her friend’s picturesque home.

Eventually, a friend told her what the police would not: The front door had been unlocked. Antoinette’s wallet, phones, laptop – and her dog, Max – were all inside the home . Her car was still in the driveway.

courtesy the Forbes family

But Antoinette Forbes – and her 10-year-old son – appeared to be missing.

How is it possible, Northrup thought, that her friend of nearly three decades – a 53-year-old dedicated mother and a communications executive at one of the nation’s largest drug companies – could just vanish?

Although her son would soon be confirmed safe, within a few short hours Antoinette’s friends and family would be blindsided, not only by her disappearance, but by a startling revelation.

But in that moment, as worry rooted her to the sidewalk and the police lights made for an eerie vignette, Northrup kept returning to the same question:

What could’ve possibly happened to Antoinette?

The Forbes sisters were raised to be strong, independent women.

Inspired by their mother, who immigrated to the US from the Philippines and became a doctor, Aileen Forbes said her younger sister had always blended academic prowess with curiosity and compassion.

“That was my sister,” Forbes said. “I think she always wanted to strike out on her own.”

After graduating from Cornell University with degrees in English literature and biochemistry, she moved to Washington, DC. It was the ’90s, and Antoinette was drawn by the sense of political optimism and change ushered in by the Clinton administration, her sister said.

She took a job at the public relations firm Porter Novelli, and it was there she met the women who would become her chosen family. They bonded in those early days of adulthood over workplace highs, and financial woes. The friends agree, Antoinette – who stood at just 5 feet 2 inches – was always generous, feisty and funny.

“We would always do these splurge birthday dinners,” Holly Wetzel recalled. “We would save up to go to really nice places and spend way too much.”

“Money that we did not have!” Northrup chimed in.

And then they would snort and laugh, when Antoinette stuffed leftovers and “road bread” into her bag.

In a city that’s known for its transience, the friends defied the odds by setting down roots and growing together. There were girls’ trips to Europe and golf lessons after work; there were boyfriends who became husbands and eventually first homes and children .

Antoinette’s career was meteoric. She learned to leverage her passion for science into a career in executive communications and guidance.

Along the way, the group expanded to include Rachel Clark, Antoinette’s colleague, and friend. She described her as the kind of person who creates meal trains for sick coworkers and stashes her son’s crib away in case Clark might need it someday.

“She was the reference for my adoption,” Clark shared, recalling a pivotal conversation in 2021 when Antoinette convinced her not to give up on her dream of becoming a mom.

“We actually got the call (to adopt our daughter) that weekend,” Clark said. “So, she always claimed credit that she manifested it to happen according to her plan.”

Despite her professional success, her friends and family agreed that Antoinette always felt like something was missing.

“As important as her career was for her, she knew it wasn’t enough,” Aileen Forbes said. “She wanted something beyond that … she did want a family.”

But relationships and the timing never seemed to work out, until she met Russell Ashford.

Nearly everyone describes Russell the same way: He’s charming.

Wetzel recalled meeting him for the first time over drinks in Georgetown. Her first impression was, “Oh, I’m glad that she’s found this guy … they seem to be into each other.”

“I didn’t have red flags,” she said, thinking back to how she felt at the time. Her friends agreed.

Russell Ashford served in the military for more than 20 years; records show he earned the rank of commander and retired as a decorated intelligence officer.

“(Antoinette and) Russell hadn’t been dating that long when she ended up getting pregnant,” Northrup said.

It was 2015; Antoinette was in her early 40’s – and Russell was more than a decade older – but the couple seemed to embrace the chance to have a baby, her friends said.

Still they maintained separate homes. And after their son was born, Wetzel was the one who drove Antoinette and her newborn home from the hospital.

“Seeing her go through that and face the fears that she had … bringing home a baby on her own,” she recalls, “She didn’t have a spouse there like we all did.”

But with time, Antoinette blossomed as a mother.

“It gave her purpose; I feel, beyond her career,” Wetzel said. “This love for (her son) taught her to love in a whole new way that she hadn’t ever experienced. I mean, no one does until you have children.”

Russell has three adult children from a previous marriage, and Northrup said it took him some time to tell his family about his newborn son –- a decision that did not sit well with Antoinette’s friends.

The couple continued living separately after Antoinette sold her condo. She and her son moved in with Northrup while she searched for a bigger home.

“She took me up on it really quickly,” she said. “I really got this chance to see (her son) as a baby and to be a little bit of the village that I wish I had.”

But Northrup admitted to her husband she didn’t feel Russell was being a supportive partner. And while she wanted to be honest with Antoinette about her concerns, she said she held back.

“If there had ever been a point where she was like, ‘I want you to get to know (Russell) better,’ or anything like that, of course … but … he had very little desire to get to know her friends,” she said.

“I don’t think he ever … appreciated the woman she was, the person she was, the mother she was, the friend.”

Friends and family agree Russell was in the picture, but Antoinette was effectively raising her son as a single mom.

“She had ended the relationship with Russell during COVID,” recalled Aileen, who was living with her sister at the time. After they broke up, Antoinette instructed her family to block Russell .

“At some point, she told me that she did have full custody, legal custody of my nephew, but she never told me the circumstances,” her sister said.

Police had been called to Antoinette’s home before.

On June 9, 2021, officers responded to a report of domestic violence in Chevy Chase, Maryland, according to court records. A neighbor led an officer inside to Antoinette, who had been severely battered and was “in and out of consciousness.”

A pool of blood was on the floor, police records show.

Russell and Antoinette had been fighting for hours, the neighbor told police. At one point, the couple’s 5-year-old son walked out of the house, and concerned neighbors encouraged him to sit with them on the porch next door while the arguing continued.

During a lull, the couple took their son back inside, but then things started escalating again. A short while later, the neighbor told police he “heard Forbes scream from the kitchen area of the home,” so he decided to go over to “try and calm things down.”

Then, he thought he heard a thud from the other side of the door.

He walked in to find “Ashford throwing closed fist punches at Forbes who was lying motionless,” police records show.

The neighbor yelled for Russell to stop, and he did. Then, he grabbed his things and walked out.

When officers later asked Russell what happened, he told them “he had just beat up his ex.” When pressed for a reason why, he said he “did not know and that he blacked out.”

Antoinette was taken to a nearby hospital where she was diagnosed with a concussion as well as a broken finger and multiple injuries to her face and eyes.

Russell was arrested.

Antoinette would later tell a judge that she’d endured physical and emotional abuse for years.

And, like countless survivors, she chose to keep that struggle private from the people she loved the most. After the assault in 2021, she told her friends she was injured falling off a scooter while playing with her son.

At the time, each of her friends harbored private doubts about her explanation, but given the sensitivity of the subject, they didn’t press her for more.

She never told her family.

“I just remember her jaw being wired shut for a really long period of time,” Clark said, “I sent her soups and everything that she could do through the straw.”

At times it seemed Antoinette wanted to say more, Clark added, but she sensed she was holding back.

“Any conversation in that period of time, I just was like, ‘Where’s my friend?’”

Russell ultimately pleaded guilty to first degree assault.

During sentencing, colleagues and family submitted character statements on behalf of the man many referred to as “Russ.”

They described him as a sought-after military intelligence officer who was a “principled person of high ethical, and moral fiber,” someone who has “good judgement in difficult situations,” and a “bedrock of love and support for his family.”

His ex-wife called him “devoted” and said he had “always been a great father and a gentle, friendly person.”

A stark contrast to the man Antoinette came to know.

The State sought the maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, with all but four years suspended, citing the severity of Antoinette’s injuries, and the fact that the assault happened in front of a child.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Associate Judge David Lease handed down a 15-year prison sentence but suspended more than 14 years, in part, because of Russell’s military service and history of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Russell was sentenced to nine months in jail before being released on probation in 2022.

How this story was reported

CNN combed through more than 800 pages of court records, police reports and transcripts – in addition to conducting interviews with Antoinette Forbes’ family and friends – to write this feature.

He was ordered to have no hostile contact with Antoinette or their son as a condition of his probation. He also had to complete domestic violence counseling and undergo a mental health evaluation.

A custody agreement included allowing Russell an unsupervised visit with his son on weekends, scheduled FaceTime calls, time together during summer break, and additional visits at Antoinette’s discretion.

But over time, she began raising concerns through her attorneys.

In July, both Antoinette and Russell appeared in court for a hearing on a motion to strike Russell’s guilty plea in the assault case and release him from probation.

Attorneys for both parties agreed their shared custody had created inflection points where tensions – and emotions – would rise.

But there were times, Antoinette’s attorney told the judge, that Russell appeared to be “pushing the envelope” by repeatedly entering Antoinette’s home and sending unsolicited communications to their son’s school and her friends.

These behaviors constituted “hostile contact” and a violation of his probation, she said.

Russell’s attorney countered that the complaints were never documented with a probation officer or the court and noted that his client had not committed any further crimes while on probation.

Courtesy of Aileen Forbes

Community holds vigil for missing DC mother a week after she disappeared, her phones, wallet, car and dog left behind

When given an opportunity to address the judge, Russell said he’d been through an “odyssey of struggles that led to deep self-reflection,” since his release from jail, and that he’d accepted he committed a crime against Antoinette.

“There’s no excuse for me to have lost my self-control,” he said.

Then, he asked the judge to expunge his record so he could regain his security clearance and return to his work consulting with the intelligence community.

When Antoinette spoke, her voice was clear and strong.

She acknowledged there were times she allowed Russell into her home because “it shows our son some level of amicability.” But she told the court, “injuries I suffered from his assault so many years ago are permanent.”

“In this eye I’ve had three surgeries … and I still can’t see properly. I have a titanium plate in my cheek that I’m not supposed to be able to feel, but I can feel it. I have screws in my jaw and my teeth,” she said.

“I consider myself a strong woman. But … when you feel someone’s physical presence who is as big as Russell is … it creates an intimidating situation where, sometimes I do feel I am scared.”

Judge Lease – the same judge who originally sentenced Russell – granted the defense’s request for a “probation before judgement,” effectively striking his original finding of guilt and his conviction from the public record.

However, he denied Russell’s request to end his probation early and again ordered him not to have hostile contact with Antoinette or their son.

“This is a difficult case for the court because both sides have presented very compelling arguments,” the judge said. Russell waived his right to appeal the ruling.

The last time Aileen spoke with her sister was the Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend.

The two had been planning to visit their parents in New York, and Aileen said she had a brief FaceTime call with her sister to discuss the trip.

“There was nothing out of the ordinary in that conversation. I believe my nephew was in the background … the dog was in the background … there was nothing for me to have any concern that morning.”

Aileen started feeling ill the next day, and by Monday she’d tested positive for COVID. She said she has underlying health conditions that could make the illness more complicated, so she texted her sister to let her know.

“I felt like she’s the person that loved me the most in the world, and so for me to be sick, she would be concerned and would want to help me through that, support me,” she said.

This time, when she didn’t hear back, she became concerned. After calling Antoinette’s phone numerous times without answer, Aileen reached out to ask neighbors to check on her.

“When our friends discovered she wasn’t there, I knew immediately something was wrong.”

But it wasn’t just Antoinette – her son appeared to be missing as well. Authorities later learned he was safe and with his father in Pennsylvania.

When Aileen arrived in the city the following day, Northrup picked her up from the train station and handed her a stack of court documents.

That’s how she learned, in vivid detail, that her sister had survived a domestic assault.

“I couldn’t really process it when I first read it,” she said. “It’s unspeakable … even unthinkable … the fact that she was living with a menace in her life, that she was carrying this threat by herself for so long … I don’t even have the words.”

Wetzel marshaled her public relations experience to coordinate interviews with local outlets and spread the word that Antoinette was missing.

They held a vigil at Antoinette’s church.

And nearly a week after her disappearance, Russell filed an emergency petition for full custody of his son.

“This matter requires immediate judicial intervention because (the) mother is presently missing, and her whereabouts are unknown,” the legal filing said, attaching coverage of Antoinette’s disappearance as an exhibit.

“The minor child is presently safe in (his father’s) care in Beaver, Pennsylvania.”

The following day, Russell was arrested on an unrelated probation violation and gun charges. He is currently being held in Pennsylvania.

Russell has not been named as a suspect or person of interest in Antoinette’s disappearance, and authorities have declined CNN’s request to publicly comment on the investigation.

CNN also reached out to Russell’s attorney in Maryland who declined to comment at this time.

The investigation into Antoinette’s disappearance is still ongoing, and thus far no one has been arrested or charged.

As the days bleed into weeks without any signs of Antoinette, friends and family say they’ve also privately begun to worry that she might not come back.

“In the beginning there was a lot of adrenaline and (I was) buoyed by my faith and just believing that we’re going to find her and bring her home,” Aileen said.

“I’m here trying to put the pieces together and still trying to … maintain hope for my sister. But at the same time trying also to grapple with these very difficult truths that we’re confronting.”

Aileen petitioned the court for custody of her nephew.

In her motion, she noted Russell spent that Saturday with his son. But instead of reporting Antoinette missing when he tried to bring his son home, the motion alleges Russell “absconded with the minor child to Pennsylvania” in violation of the custody agreement.

Antoinette’s absence has left a deep, aching void that’s felt by nearly everyone who knows her, but most especially by her son. Court records show – and Aileen confirms – she’s been granted temporary custody of her nephew.

She declined to speak about how he’s navigating his mother’s disappearance and his father’s arrest, out of concern for his privacy and her desire to shield him.

Through the haze of confusion and grief, her family and friends have sought to make one thing emphatically clear: Antoinette would never just walk away from her son or the life she built.

“No one who knows Antoinette would believe that she did something like that,” Aileen said. “It is 100% impossible.”

The last time Antoinette and her friends were all together was for Northrup’s birthday dinner. As the evening wound down, Antoinette stepped away from the table and quietly paid the bill.

It was a full circle moment for a group of friends who’d seen each other through so many of life’s changes. But they had no way of knowing Antoinette was actively keeping one of the worst moments of her life a secret.

“If there was some kind of magical thinking world that she would walk through the door right now — if anything good came out of any of this — it’s the fact that every person in her life who knows her and loves her, who knows about (the assault) in 2021 now, would stand there and say, ‘You’re not alone in this,’” Northrup said.

“You don’t have to hide it. There’s nothing that you can do or say that would make any of us not stand by you.”

As she began to cry, Clark finished her thought:

“We’re not going to stop until we bring her home … She would never give up on us, we’re not going to give up on her.”

CNN’s Alta Spells contributed to this report.

编者按：本文包含对家庭暴力的描述。如果您或您认识的人正在遭受家庭暴力，请拨打全国家庭暴力热线 800-799-7233 或发送短信“START”至 88788 寻求帮助。该热线免费且保密，24 小时全天候提供服务。

“安托瓦内特和你在一起吗？”

那天是劳动节，深夜接到电话出乎意料，也有些令人困惑，但伊丽莎白·诺斯鲁普还是接了电话。

“不，”她对着电话里的朋友说，“怎么了？发生什么事了？”

短暂的停顿后，他说道：“出事了……警察到她家来了。”

几分钟后，诺斯鲁普就出了门，上了车，驱车穿过华盛顿特区，前往她一位挚友的家。开车途中，她脑海中闪过无数种可能，但当她拐上内布拉斯加大道时，眼前的景象让她觉得最糟糕的情况也可能发生。

警车闪着灯。困惑的邻居们在人行道上徘徊。警察在屋内，从她朋友风景如画的房子前的落地窗前走过。

最终，一位朋友告诉了她警察没告诉她的事情：前门没锁。安托瓦内特的钱包、手机、笔记本电脑，还有她的狗麦克斯，都在屋里。她的车还停在车道上。

承蒙福布斯家族惠允

但安托瓦内特·福布斯和她 10 岁的儿子似乎失踪了。

诺斯鲁普心想，她这位相识近三十年的朋友——一位 53 岁、尽职尽责的母亲，同时也是美国最大的制药公司之一的通讯主管——怎么可能就这么消失了呢？

虽然她的儿子很快就会被确认安全，但几个小时后，安托瓦内特的朋友和家人不仅会因她的失踪而感到震惊，还会因一个惊人的发现而感到震惊。

但就在那一刻，忧虑让她动弹不得，警灯闪烁，构成了一幅诡异的画面，诺斯鲁普反复思考着同一个问题：

安托瓦内特究竟遭遇了什么？

福布斯姐妹从小就被培养成坚强独立的女性。

艾琳·福布斯说，受母亲的启发（她的母亲从菲律宾移民到美国，成为了一名医生），她的妹妹一直以来都将学术才能与好奇心和同情心结合起来。

“那是我妹妹，”福布斯说。“我觉得她一直都想自己闯出一片天地。”

从康奈尔大学获得英国文学和生物化学学位后，她搬到了华盛顿特区。她的妹妹说，那是在90年代，安托瓦内特被克林顿政府带来的政治乐观主义和变革氛围所吸引。

她在公关公司Porter Novelli找到了一份工作，在那里她结识了后来成为她“家人”的女性朋友们。在她们初入社会的那些日子里，她们一起分享工作中的喜悦和经济上的困境，建立了深厚的友谊。朋友们一致认为，身高只有1米57的安托瓦内特总是慷慨大方、热情奔放、风趣幽默。

“我们以前总是会举办这种奢华的生日晚宴，”霍莉·韦策尔回忆道。“我们会攒钱去非常好的地方，然后花很多钱。”

“我们根本没有这笔钱！”诺斯鲁普插嘴道。

然后，当安托瓦内特把剩菜剩饭和“路边面包”塞进包里时，他们就会嗤之以鼻，哈哈大笑。

在这个以流动性著称的城市里，这群朋友打破了常规，扎根于此，共同成长。她们一起去欧洲旅行，下班后一起上高尔夫课；她们的男朋友变成了丈夫，最终拥有了自己的房子和孩子。

安托瓦内特的职业生涯可谓一飞冲天。她学会了如何将自己对科学的热情转化为高管沟通和指导方面的职业发展。

后来，这个小组扩大了，成员包括安托瓦内特的同事兼好友瑞秋·克拉克。安托瓦内特形容瑞秋是那种会为生病的同事安排送餐服务，还会把儿子的婴儿床藏起来以备不时之需的人。

“她是我收养孩子的推荐人，”克拉克回忆起 2021 年的一次关键谈话时说道，当时安托瓦内特说服她不要放弃成为母亲的梦想。

“我们实际上是在那个周末接到了（收养女儿的）电话，”克拉克说。“所以，她总是声称这一切都是她按照自己的计划实现的。”

尽管安托瓦内特在事业上取得了成功，但她的朋友和家人都认为她总觉得生活中缺少了什么。

“尽管事业对她来说很重要，但她知道这还不够，”艾琳·福布斯说。“她想要的不止于此……她也想要一个家庭。”

但直到她遇到罗素·阿什福德，感情和时机似乎总是不尽如人意。

几乎每个人都用同样的词来形容罗素：他很有魅力。

韦策尔回忆起第一次在乔治城喝酒时与他见面的情景。她的第一印象是：“哦，我很高兴她找到了这个男人……他们看起来彼此很来电。”

“我当时并没有察觉到任何危险信号，”她回忆起自己的感受时说道。她的朋友们也同意她的说法。

拉塞尔·阿什福德在军队服役超过 20 年；记录显示他晋升为指挥官，并以功勋卓著的情报官员身份退役。

“（安托瓦内特和）拉塞尔交往时间并不长，她就怀孕了，”诺斯鲁普说。

那是 2015 年；安托瓦内特 40 岁出头——而拉塞尔比她大十多岁——但这对夫妇似乎欣然接受了生孩子的机会，她的朋友们说。

尽管如此，他们仍然分居两地。儿子出生后，是韦策尔开车送安托瓦内特和她的新生儿从医院回家。

“看着她经历这一切，面对她所拥有的恐惧……独自一人把孩子带回家，”她回忆道，“她不像我们一样有配偶在身边。”

但随着时间的推移，安托瓦内特逐渐成长为一位优秀的母亲。

“这给了她生活的意义；我觉得，这超越了她的事业，”韦策尔说。“对儿子的爱教会了她一种全新的爱的方式，这是她以前从未体验过的。我的意思是，只有当了父母，才能真正体会到这种爱。”

拉塞尔与前妻育有三个成年子女，诺斯鲁普说，他花了些时间才告诉家人他刚生了个儿子——这一决定让安托瓦内特的朋友们很不高兴。

安托瓦内特卖掉公寓后，这对夫妇继续分居。她和儿子搬去和诺斯鲁普同住，同时她也在寻找更大的房子。

“她很快就接受了我的提议，”她说。“我真的有机会看到（她的儿子）还是个婴儿的时候，也算是弥补了我一直渴望拥有的那种社区的缺失。”

但诺斯鲁普向丈夫坦白，她觉得拉塞尔没有尽到伴侣的责任。虽然她很想坦诚地告诉安托瓦内特自己的担忧，但她说她还是有所保留。

“如果她曾经说过‘我希望你更好地了解（拉塞尔）’之类的话，当然……但是……他几乎没有任何兴趣去了解她的朋友们，”她说。

“我认为他从来没有……真正欣赏过她作为女人、作为人、作为母亲、作为朋友的这些品质。”

朋友和家人都认为罗素参与了孩子的抚养，但安托瓦内特实际上是以单身母亲的身份抚养儿子的。

“她在新冠疫情期间和罗素分手了，”当时和姐姐住在一起的艾琳回忆道。分手后，安托瓦内特指示家人拉黑罗素。

“她曾经告诉我，她拥有我侄子的完全监护权和合法监护权，但她从未告诉我具体情况，”她的妹妹说。

警方之前曾多次被叫到安托瓦内特的家中。

根据法庭记录，2021年6月9日，警方接到报案称马里兰州切维蔡斯发生家庭暴力事件。一名邻居带领一名警官进入屋内，发现安托瓦内特身受重伤，时而昏迷时而清醒。

警方记录显示，地板上有一滩血迹。

邻居告诉警方，拉塞尔和安托瓦内特已经争吵了好几个小时。争吵期间，这对夫妇5岁的儿子跑出了家门，邻居们担心不已，便让他到隔壁的门廊上和他们一起坐下，而争吵仍在继续。

趁着局势稍稍缓和，这对夫妇把儿子带回了屋内，但随后事态再次升级。不久之后，邻居告诉警方，他“听到福布斯从厨房区域发出尖叫声”，于是决定过去“试图平息事态”。

然后，他好像听到门另一边传来一声闷响。

警方记录显示，他走进去发现“阿什福德正对着一动不动地躺在地上的福布斯挥舞着紧握的拳头”。

邻居大声喝止罗素，他便停了下来。然后，他抓起东西走了出去。

后来，当警官询问拉塞尔发生了什么事时，他告诉他们“他刚刚打了前女友”。当被追问原因时，他说他“不知道，他当时失去了意识”。

安托瓦内特被送往附近医院，在那里她被诊断出脑震荡、手指骨折以及面部和眼睛多处受伤。

拉塞尔被捕了。

安托瓦内特后来告诉法官，她多年来一直遭受身体和精神虐待。

和无数幸存者一样，她选择对最爱的人隐瞒这段痛苦的经历。2021年遭受袭击后，她告诉朋友们，自己是在和儿子玩滑板车时摔倒受伤的。

当时，她的每个朋友都私下里对她的解释有所怀疑，但考虑到这个话题的敏感性，他们没有追问更多。

她从未告诉过家人。

“我只记得她的下巴被钢丝固定了很长时间，”克拉克说，“我给她送汤，还有她能用吸管做的所有事情。”

克拉克补充说，有时安托瓦内特似乎想说更多，但她感觉安托瓦内特有所保留。

“那段时间，每次和人聊天，我都会想，‘我的朋友在哪儿？’”

拉塞尔最终承认犯有一级攻击罪。

在宣判期间，同事和家人为这位被许多人称为“拉斯”的男子提交了品格声明。

他们形容他是一位备受追捧的军事情报官员，是一位“有原则、有高尚道德情操的人”，一位“在困难情况下能做出正确判断的人”，以及一位“对家庭充满爱与支持的坚实后盾”。

他的前妻称他“忠诚”，并说他“一直是一位伟大的父亲，也是一个温柔友善的人”。

这与安托瓦内特后来认识的那个男人形成了鲜明的对比。

州检察官寻求判处最高刑罚 25 年监禁，其中除 4 年外其余刑期缓刑，理由是安托瓦内特的伤势严重，而且袭击事件发生在儿童面前。

蒙哥马利县巡回法院副法官大卫·利斯判处拉塞尔 15 年监禁，但缓刑 14 年以上，部分原因是拉塞尔曾服兵役且患有创伤后应激障碍。

拉塞尔被判入狱九个月，于 2022 年获得缓刑释放。

这篇报道是如何进行的

为了撰写这篇专题报道，CNN查阅了800多页法庭记录、警方报告和笔录，并采访了安托瓦内特·福布斯的家人和朋友。

作为缓刑条件之一，他被勒令不得与安托瓦内特及其儿子有任何敌对接触。他还必须完成家庭暴力咨询并接受心理健康评估。

监护协议包括允许罗素在周末与儿子进行非监督探视、安排 FaceTime 通话、在暑假期间共度时光，以及由安托瓦内特酌情决定的额外探视。

但随着时间的推移，她开始通过律师提出担忧。

7 月，安托瓦内特和拉塞尔都出庭参加了听证会，听证会内容是关于撤销拉塞尔在袭击案中的认罪答辩并解除其缓刑的动议。

双方律师一致认为，共同监护权造成了一些转折点，在这些转折点上，紧张局势和情绪都会加剧。

但安托瓦内特的律师告诉法官，拉塞尔有时似乎在“试探底线”，反复进入安托瓦内特的家，并向他们儿子的学校和她的朋友发送未经请求的信息。

她说，这些行为构成“敌对接触”，违反了他的缓刑规定。

拉塞尔的律师反驳说，这些投诉从未向缓刑监督官或法院记录在案，并指出他的当事人在缓刑期间没有犯下任何其他罪行。

承蒙艾琳·福布斯惠允

失踪一周后，华盛顿特区社区为这位失踪的母亲举行守夜活动，她的手机、钱包、汽车和狗都留在了家中。

当有机会向法官陈述时，拉塞尔表示，自从出狱以来，他经历了一段“充满挣扎的漫长旅程，并进行了深刻的自我反思”，他已经接受了自己对安托瓦内特犯下的罪行。

“我没有任何理由失去自制力，”他说。

然后，他请求法官消除他的犯罪记录，以便他能够重新获得安全许可并重返情报界担任顾问的工作。

安托瓦内特说话时，声音清晰洪亮。

她承认，有时她允许拉塞尔进她家门，因为“这能向儿子表明我们之间有一定的友好关系”。但她告诉法庭，“多年前他袭击我造成的伤害是永久性的。”

“我的这只眼睛已经做了三次手术……但我仍然看不清东西。我的脸颊里有一块钛板，按理说我应该感觉不到，但我能感觉到。我的下巴和牙齿里都有螺钉，”她说。

“我自认为是个坚强的女人。但是……当你感受到像罗素那样高大的人的存在时……会让人感到畏惧，有时我真的会感到害怕。”

利斯法官（即最初判处拉塞尔有罪的法官）批准了辩方提出的“判决前缓刑”请求，实际上从公共记录中删除了他最初的有罪认定和定罪记录。

然而，他拒绝了罗素提前结束缓刑的请求，并再次命令他不得与安托瓦内特或他们的儿子进行敌对接触。

法官表示：“这对法庭来说是一个棘手的案件，因为双方都提出了非常有说服力的论点。” 拉塞尔放弃了上诉的权利。

艾琳最后一次和她姐姐通话是在劳动节周末的周六早上。

两人原本计划去纽约探望父母，艾琳说她和姐姐进行了一次简短的 FaceTime 通话，讨论了这次旅行。

“那次谈话并没有什么不寻常的地方。我相信我的侄子当时就在旁边……那条狗也在旁边……那天早上没有什么让我感到担忧的事情。”

第二天艾琳就开始感觉不舒服，到了周一，她的新冠检测结果呈阳性。她说自己有一些基础疾病，可能会使病情更加复杂，所以她发短信告诉了姐姐。

“我觉得她是世界上最爱我的人，所以如果我生病了，她会很担心，会想办法帮助我，支持我，”她说。

这一次，她没有收到回复，开始担心起来。艾琳多次拨打安托瓦内特的电话无人接听后，只好请邻居们帮忙照看一下。

“当朋友们发现她不在的时候，我立刻就知道出事了。”

但失踪的不仅仅是安托瓦内特——她的儿子似乎也失踪了。当局后来得知他平安无事，和他的父亲在宾夕法尼亚州。

第二天艾琳抵达该市时，诺斯鲁普到火车站接她，并递给她一叠法庭文件。

她就是这样清楚地了解到，她的妹妹曾遭受家庭暴力并幸存下来。

“我第一次读到的时候真的无法理解，”她说。“这简直难以言喻……甚至难以置信……她竟然一直生活在威胁之中，独自承受着这种威胁这么久……我简直不知道该说什么好。”

韦策尔运用她的公共关系经验，协调与当地媒体的采访，并散布安托瓦内特失踪的消息。

他们在安托瓦内特的教堂举行了守夜活动。

在她失踪近一周后，拉塞尔提交了一份紧急申请，要求获得儿子的完全监护权。

“此事需要立即进行司法干预，因为（这位）母亲目前失踪，下落不明，”法律文件中写道，并附上了有关安托瓦内特失踪的报道作为证据。

“这名未成年孩子目前在宾夕法尼亚州比弗市，由（他父亲）安全照料。”

第二天，拉塞尔因与本案无关的违反缓刑规定和枪支指控被捕。他目前被关押在宾夕法尼亚州。

拉塞尔并未被列为安托瓦内特失踪案的嫌疑人或相关人员，当局也拒绝了 CNN 就此案公开置评的请求。

CNN 还联系了拉塞尔在马里兰州的律师，但对方目前拒绝置评。

对安托瓦内特失踪案的调查仍在进行中，目前尚未有人被逮捕或起诉。

随着时间一天天过去，几周过去了，仍然没有安托瓦内特的任何消息，她的朋友和家人私下里也开始担心她可能再也回不来了。

“一开始我肾上腺素飙升，我的信念给了我很大的鼓舞，我坚信我们一定能找到她，把她带回家，”艾琳说。

“我在这里努力拼凑事情的真相，仍然努力……保持对妹妹的希望。但与此同时，我也在努力应对我们正在面对的这些非常艰难的真相。”

艾琳向法院申请获得她侄子的监护权。

她在动议中指出，拉塞尔在那个星期六和儿子一起度过。但动议指控拉塞尔在试图带儿子回家时，没有报告安托瓦内特失踪，而是“带着未成年子女逃往宾夕法尼亚州”，违反了监护协议。

安托瓦内特的离世在她身边留下了深深的、令人心痛的空缺，几乎所有认识她的人都能感受到，尤其是她的儿子。法庭记录显示——艾琳也证实了这一点——她已获得侄子的临时监护权。

出于对儿子隐私的顾虑以及想要保护他的愿望，她拒绝谈论儿子是如何应对母亲失踪和父亲被捕的。

在迷茫和悲痛之中，她的家人和朋友努力明确地表明一件事：安托瓦内特绝不会抛下她的儿子或她所建立的生活。

“任何认识安托瓦内特的人都不会相信她会做出这种事，”艾琳说。“这绝对不可能。”

安托瓦内特和她的朋友们上次聚在一起，是参加诺斯罗普的生日晚宴。晚宴临近尾声时，安托瓦内特悄悄地离开餐桌，付了账。

对于这群见证了彼此人生诸多变迁的朋友来说，这仿佛是一个圆满的时刻。但他们却无从知晓，安托瓦内特一直在刻意隐瞒着她人生中最痛苦的经历之一。

“如果真有那么一个神奇的世界，她现在就能走进这扇门——如果这一切有什么好处的话——那就是她生命中每一个认识她、爱她的人，每一个在2021年知道（袭击事件）的人，都会站在那里对她说：‘你并不孤单，’”诺斯鲁普说道。

“你不用隐瞒。无论你做什么说什么，我们都会坚定地支持你。”

她开始哭泣，克拉克替她说完了话：

“我们一定会把她带回家……她永远不会放弃我们，我们也不会放弃她。”

CNN的阿尔塔·斯佩尔斯对本报道亦有贡献。