CA CA - Areli Garcia, 25, last seen at home in Salinas, missed work, car found Big Sur with pers poss & phone, 22 Sept 2022

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Arelie Yeraldine Garcia Sanchez – The Charley Project

Last updated August 3, 2024; details of disappearance updated.

Details of Disappearance​

Garcia Sanchez was last seen in Salinas, California at 6:34 a.m. on September 22, 2022. She left her apartment on Roosevelt Street, where she lived with her mother, to drive to her job at a Chevrolet car dealership. She wasn't supposed to start her shift until 7:30 a.m. and she lived just ten minutes from her workplace; it's not clear why she left home early on this day. She never arrived at work and has never been heard from again.
When she left the house she was not wearing the clothes she would have normally worn to work, but to the gym. She often went to the gym in the mornings before work, but would go earlier in the morning, at around 5:00 a.m. By the time she left the house, she would not have had time to go to the gym, work out, return home, shower and change clothes in time to be at work to start her shift.
The last place Garcia Sanchez's cellular phone pinged was in the Big Sur area, about an hour's drive from Salinas. Her red Honda Accord was found there, parked on the side of Highway 1 past mile marker 56 near the Little Sue River. The car was parked at a pull-off where people often stop to take photographs of the scenery.
A photo of the car where it was found is posted with this case summary. Garcia Sanchez's family cannot think of any reason she might have wanted to go to that location. The car was locked, the keys were in the ignition, Garcia Sanchez's cellular phone and wallet were inside it, and there were no indications of foul play.
The Honda was customized with an air suspension system which could raise and lower the chassis. Whenever Garcia Sanchez parked it, she would "slam" the car by lowering the chassis all the way to the ground. When the car was found after her disappearance, however, it wasn't slammed. The driver's seat was also pushed back further than Garcia Sanchez usually kept it, suggesting someone else who was taller than her was the last person to drive the vehicle.
Garcia Sanchez was close to her family prior to her disappearance and they can't think of a reason why she would have wanted to leave. She is described as a reliable employee who was "obsessed" with cars. At the time of her disappearance, she was taking online college classes so she could become an ultrasound technician.
Her family stated most of her life was taken up with her job and her schoolwork. She did have a boyfriend whom she'd only been seeing for a few months; he says he has no knowledge of her disappearance.
The circumstances of her disappearance are unclear.