I'm sorry to inform you all that the passing of Cristian Vega is, in fact, a done deal. Or at least as much of a "done deal" as such things can be in the Llanview of today (or on soaps in general). David Fumero, who's left us all lusting after Cristian for several years now (having assumed the role... many people forget he's not the original!), opted not to renew his contract. Which is why Natalie and Cristian didn't really have all that much storyline over the past few months before his departure. The show didn't want viewers to get overly invested in them, as it makes it harder for viewers to move on and accept Natalie in a new romance (most likely with John, the character being played by Michael Easton, who caused such a stir over on Port Charles as uber-vampire Caleb Morley).
Yes, the body was not found, so of course it's possible - perhaps even likely - that Cristian will return (with Fumero's face or that of someone else).
More news for all of you: Tracy Melchior, who's been playing Kelly for the past few months, is gone as well. She's being replaced in the role by Heather Tom, who's been fantastic for the past 13 years as THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS' Victoria (winning two Emmys for her work).
Rumor has it that execs are not very pleased with Bruce Michael Hall (aka Nu-Joey), but that rather than releasing him, they've sent him to take acting classes. Which is probably good, as the show has a whole lot of new faces running around, and the last thing anyone needs is to see yet another core character recast. After all, we've got Nu-Kevin, Nu-Joey, Nu-Jessica (whom I actually like), Nu-Todd/Walker (who has really grown on me), Nu-Kelly (soon to be replaced by even newer Kelly), etc.
Richard