Eerie Google Street View image offers haunting clue to disappearance of California woman, 25, who vanished in 2022
A heartbreaking, eerie Google Street View photo is the only real clue in the disappearance of a 25-year-old California woman.
Arelie Garcia loved her car, a bright red Honda Accord that she had lovingly customized and drove around her idyllic town every day. It was “literally her baby.”
The last time her family saw her was on September 22, 2022, when she drove it to work in Salinas, California. After that, Garcia disappeared without a trace.
It was later tracked down and found by Garcia’s sister Veronica in Big Sur, California, over an hour’s drive away.
Investigators don’t think Garcia drove the car there himself. They estimate Veronica found the car about six hours after it was parked.
But in an astonishing and eerie coincidence, a Google Street View car photographed the vehicle just hours earlier, around noon on the day it was parked.
The last time her family saw Arelie Garcia, she was driving it to work on September 22, 2022, before the 25-year-old disappeared without a trace
What her car looked like when she last left it has been eerily preserved on Google Maps, after a Street View car took photos of it as it drove past
According to investigators, the photo, which is still available on Google Street View, was taken about three hours after the vehicle was abandoned on the side of the road in Big Sur.
Veronica didn’t find it until after six o’clock.
It presents the tantalizing explanation that anyone involved in Garcia’s disappearance may have been in the vicinity of the innocent Street View vehicle at the time.
The cars drive on roads all over the world, offering a fascinating, realistic view of roads and streets.
Investigators believe Garcia did not drive her Honda there. The driver’s seat was set too far back for Garcia’s 5-foot, 5-inch frame, and the chassis was not lowered all the way to the ground as she always kept it.
Garcia left her mother’s house in Salinas, California, at 6:34 a.m. and was scheduled to be at her job as a service advisor at My Chevrolet in Salinas at 7:30 a.m.
She texted Veronica, whose son Davian is Garcia’s godson, at 6:56 a.m.: “Good morning. I miss you and my baby. Love you!”
Veronica replied at 8:53am: ‘Hi Lovie, I miss you too! And guppy loves you too!!’
Garcia was never late for work without calling first, and she had such a good relationship with her coworkers that they texted each other regularly.
When she didn’t show up, they contacted Garcia’s other sister, Eli Mendoza, at 10 a.m., wondering where she was.
What followed was a flood of increasingly concerned texts and phone calls from Veronica to her sister, which she later realized had never been delivered – including the first message.
Arelie was never late for work without calling first, and she was so close to her colleagues that they texted each other regularly
She drove to her mother’s apartment and found Arelie’s room exactly as it always was: nothing out of place and no note.
With no leads, Veronica pinged Arelie on the Find My Phone app and located her in Big Sur.
That was nonsense, because she had no reason to be there and it was too far to get to work and back on time.
Veronica went to the police station to report a missing person, while Eli and her husband went looking for the location of the phone.
When they arrived, they saw the Honda parked in a nice parking lot overlooking the ocean.
The car was locked and there were Arelie’s phone, keys and wallet inside, but there was no trace of her.
Police quickly arrived on the scene and searched a six-kilometre area for two days with dogs, drones, helicopters and on foot, but found no trace of her.
What they did find was footage of her leaving the apartment, dressed in what appeared to be workout clothes, at least an hour longer than she normally would have been if she were exercising for work.
She was wearing black leggings, a black hoodie and sneakers. Her hair was tied in a bun.
According to her family, these were not the shoes she normally wore to work and she would certainly have been sent home if she showed up in them.
Arelie left her mother’s house in Salinas, California, at 6:34 a.m. and was scheduled to be at her job as a service advisor at My Chevrolet in Salinas at 7:30 a.m.
Another video shows her pulling up at Carmel Highlands General Store at 7:30 a.m., about a 20-minute drive from where her car was found.
Based on investigation, police suspect that she was at the scene between 7:50 and 8:45 a.m. and that the windows were too dark to see if anyone was still inside.
Given all of these factors, Garcia’s family suspects that she met someone shortly before her disappearance.
But after police interviewed 62 people, including her family, the trail is empty and they hope a $10,000 reward will lead to new information.
“We’ve investigated every lead we can,” Salinas Police Chief Brian Johnson said. “There’s nothing new that’s come up.”