Woman's Last Text: 'It's Pretty Sketchy Here'

Carla Stefaniak, 36, was visiting Costa Rica for her birthday
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 2, 2018 12:45 PM CST

A Florida woman has gone missing in Costa Rica after visiting for her birthday and getting into an unknown car, WFLA reports. Carla Stefaniak, 36, was scheduled to return Wednesday, the day after her fellow traveler/sister-in-law flew back—but Stefaniak never made the plane. "She totally went missing, ghosted on her birthday, which is totally unlike her," says sister-in-law Antonieta, whose last name is reported variously in the media. "I'm scared of what I'm going to find." Now Antonieta's husband, who is Stefaniak's brother, has flown down with a friend to find her. They've talked to security guards, an Uber driver, and Airbnb owners, who say Stefaniak got into an unknown car Wednesday morning, per CBS Miami.

According to relatives, Stefaniak dropped off her sister-in-law at the airport Tuesday, returned their rental car, and took an hourlong tour on San Jose in an Uber. That night she texted that rain was pouring and power was intermittent. Her last text: "It's pretty sketchy here," per QCostaRica. Police investigators confirm she left her room with her luggage at about 5am Wednesday morning. Her social media accounts have gone quiet, with her last Instagram post showing her on vacation Monday. Antonieta says she's told the Miami FBI, the US embassy, and Sen. Marco Rubio's office, and set up a GoFundMe page to pay for the search. "She was just such a happy go lucky person," says Antonieta. "I'm just afraid she was just too trusting with someone there." (More Costa Rica stories.)

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