A Florida woman’s family is desperately searching for her after she went missing last week while vacationing in Costa Rica.
According to NBC News, Hallandale Beach resident Carla Stefaniak was celebrating her 36th birthday in Costa Rica, but failed to board her return flight on Wednesday. She was traveling with sister-in-law April Burton, her family said, but had booked a flight a day later than her travel companion. She checked into her flight within 24 hours of its boarding time, but did not make it onto the plane, and her family suspects the worst.
“She had been ready to come back home but she didn’t,” her brother, Mario Caicedo, told NBC. “That means somebody kidnapped her or abducted her.”
Costa Rican law enforcement agency Organismo de Investigación Judicial is reportedly investigating Stefaniak’s disappearance, and Caicedo says he has been in contact with the U.S. embassy.
According to CBS Miami, Stefaniak was in touch with her sister-in-law on Tuesday evening, noting that the power had gone out in her Airbnb. The Miami Herald says Stefaniak’s family spoke with multiple sources who claim she got into an unknown car with her luggage early Wednesday morning.
Stefaniak’s brother is now in Costa Rica looking for her, her family said. It appears someone launched a GoFundMe to help with the search efforts.