Blind Michigan Woman Is Missing in Peru

Carla Valpeoz hasn't been seen for a week
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 19, 2018 3:29 AM CST
Blind Michigan Woman Disappears in Peru
Brother Carlos Valpeoz shared this poster.   (Facebook)

A legally blind Michigan woman who wanted to see the world before completely losing her vision has been missing in Peru for a week, and family members are extremely concerned. Carla Valpeoz, a 35-year-old social worker from Detroit, visited the country with a friend for a wedding and was supposed to meet her in Lima after doing some solo traveling in the Cusco area, the Detroit Free Press reports. She texted her friend on the evening of Dec. 11 to tell her about her visit to Machu Picchu, but she missed both her Dec. 13 flight from Cusco to Lima and her Dec. 15 flight back to the US. She was last seen leaving a Cusco hostel early on Dec. 12 and taking a taxi to an area where people catch buses.

It's not clear whether Valpeoz caught a bus, though brother Carlos Valpeoz says she had expressed interest in visiting the village of Pisac, 22 miles north of Cusco. He says his sister, who was diagnosed with optic nerve atrophy when she was 10 years old, is a seasoned traveler who has spent time in countries including Yemen and Papua New Guinea and would not have put herself in danger. "Carla is a very determined person ... a leader devoted to life, to travel and immersing herself," he tells CNN. "Since an early age, our family has prepared her for when she would lose her sight and that's why she wants to see so much." Valpeoz is described as 5-foot-1 with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen carrying a green backpack. (More Peru stories.)

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