GUILTY COSTA RICA - Carla Stefaniak, 36, American tourist, San Antonio de Escazú, 27 Nov 2018

[moreofless]

Does anyone know the address of the Airbnb?

 

[MimosaMornings]

Is Carla married? Since her last name is different from her brothers?
Her sister in law is April Burton? Or April Antonieta?

And what was important to stay an extra day alone?

I hope she is found safe soon.

 

[Satchie]

With regards to the trip, what everyone does is leave the area of San Jose/the airport and go to one of the resort areas along the coast. Obviously they rented a car and did that.

For whatever reason, perhaps as simple as one flight being full, or one person having to go back earlier, they came back so that the SIL could catch her flight. The rental car is unneeded in the outskirts of San Jose, Ubers are available and cheap, so Carla saved money/hassle by returning it and stayed one night at this nice looking Airbnb, before her flight.

It's a very common travel plan, no mystery at all.

 

[JerseyGirl]

She had a ticket to return on Wednesday 28 at 1:30 in the afternoon, but never showed up at the airport . Nor did she have any activity on social networks after 8:00pm on Tuesday night.

That afternoon she had gone to return her rented car to the agency Thrifty Car Rental , and around 1:00 pm she took an Uber that took her for a walk and shopping in San José. She arrived at the Airbnb lodging between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m.

Carla's 36th birthday was on Wednesday the 28th , and shortly before midnight her sister-in-law says she sent her a text message congratulating her, but Carla did not respond . The next day, she knew that she had not answered those of several friends who also sent congratulatory messages.

The same driver of Uber with whom she had walked the previous day went to pick it up at 8:00 am on Wednesday to Airbnb to take it to the airport . Her brother spoke with that driver, who said he had not found her at the Airbnb villa at that time .

Airbnb owners and security guards told the family that Carla left there at 5:00 am with her luggage and that she had boarded an unknown vehicle .

Familia desesperada pide ayuda para encontrar a venezolana desaparecida en Costa Rica

 

[crhedBngr]

still missing, not any updates as of this morning: U.S. woman who disappeared in Costa Rica left ominous last message

Some of us wondered if she had done an online check-in for her flight. According to this article, she had indeed.

 

[moreofless]

stayed one night at this nice looking Airbnb, before her flight.

Do you know the specific Airbnb she stayed in? How do you know it was a "nice looking Airbnb"?

 

[Elainera]

From reading tripadvisor comments, there doesn't seem to be anything sketchy about the Airbnb. In fact, it seems like it's a 5 star place.

rsbm

Someone said up-thread that the negative reviews had quickly been removed.

 

[Satchie]

Do you know the specific Airbnb she stayed in? How do you know it was a "nice looking Airbnb"?

You'll find links earlier in this thread.

 

[crhedBngr]

Do you know the specific Airbnb she stayed in? How do you know it was a "nice looking Airbnb"?

Villa Le Mas. Some of us were concerned about the more negative, recently-posted reviews of this place.

VILLA LE MAS - Updated 2018 Prices & Reviews (Costa Rica/Escazu) - TripAdvisor

 

[crhedBngr]

rsbm

Someone said up-thread that the negative reviews had quickly been removed.

I just checked - at least two of them are still posted.

 

[whitelilac]

Also following. If the Uber driver she has previously used came to pick her up at 8 am, I'm wondering why she didn't call to cancel the ride if she made other plans to leave with another car at 5:30 am.

 

[Elainera]

Why did she want to spend her birthday alone?

 

[Satchie]

The same driver of Uber with whom she had walked the previous day went to pick it up at 8:00 am on Wednesday to Airbnb to take it to the airport . Her brother spoke with that driver, who said he had not found her at the Airbnb villa at that time .

8 am is unnecessarily early to go to the airport. She needed to be there at 10:30, and the airport was close by.

Unless she'd planned to go somewhere for breakfast first. That's the problem with staying in many Airbnbs, often no restaurants nearby, you have to plan ahead and bring your own food.

 

[crhedBngr]

Why did she want to spend her birthday alone?

When I was reading the Tripadvisor reviews of Villa Le Mas, several of the posters had stayed there to recover from plastic surgery and dental surgery (circa 2012 - 2015).

I had wondered if Carla was getting some type of surgery--maybe plastic surgery as a birthday present to herself.

However . . . this doesn't make sense, because she had checked in for her return flight.

Just tossing this out here; probably one of the more improbable scenarios.

The above is my complete speculation and is NOT based on fact.

 

[whitelilac]

Best scenario is that she met someone at the Airbnb, they clicked, and they went off together to spend some romantic time elsewhere. Thinking off the top of my head, but this is so unlikely especially if she often texted with her SIL, and didn't cancel her flight.

Don't have a good feeling about the outcome....at all. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[otto]

Does anyone know the address of the Airbnb?

I put the address into google maps and came up with this, but I haven't done any more to verify the location:

Google Maps

 

[JerseyGirl]

Oh my, just reading the Trip Advisor reviews are sketchy enough! Why did she book a room here alone?!?

 

[mbison]

I'm curious about her financial situation. My kneejerk reaction is that she and her SIL could have been drug mules. They may not have known what they were getting into. That explanation would be consistent with the two ladies traveling alone, flying at separate times, 5am pickups, etc. I think it is fairly common for drug smugglers to target women by offering them a free vacation in a place like CR.

 

[whitelilac]

Reminds of of Jesse Galganov in Peru, though different circumstances. He has yet to be found

 

[Elainera]

When I was reading the Tripadvisor reviews of Villa Le Mas, several of the posters had stayed there to recover from plastic surgery and dental surgery (circa 2015).

I had wondered if Carla was getting some type of surgery--maybe plastic surgery as a birthday present to herself.

However . . . this doesn't make sense, because she had checked in for her return flight.

Just tossing this out here; probably one of the more improbable scenarios.

The above is my complete speculation and is NOT based on fact.

I too was wondering if she had planned something secret and special for her birthday but then, as you say, she checked in for her flight.

Or could it have been something that would not take much time, something you can do at 5am? Unlikely, I know.