The complex where Stefaniak had been stayed is temporarily closed, a lawyer for the site told CNN affiliate WFTS. … For almost six days to go by and no contact, she would have to have been abducted.” “You never want to think the worst, but that’s where your mind goes to automatically. “That’s when we knew that something’s not right,” she said. Stefaniak and Burton had been texting each other via WhatsApp, Burton said. Stefaniak opted then to stay at a hostel closer to the airport before her flight the following day, her brother Carlos Caicedo told WSVN. April BurtonĪ day before she went missing, Stefaniak dropped Burton at the airport and returned their rental car.

Stefaniak was friendly, bubbly and loved to travel, her sister-in-law said. Relatives raised the alarm last week, after Stefaniak stopped texting and phoning home and was not on her return flight from Costa Rica.Īpril Burton, her sister-in-law, told CNN the two had gone to Costa Rica to celebrate Stefaniak’s birthday and had traveled together for six days, staying in beach towns outside San Jose. The family later learned there were no records in Stefaniak’s Uber account from that day, Fernandez said.Īuthorities found the decomposed body around noon Monday in a wooded area of San Antonio de Escazu, Espinoza said.Īn autopsy showed multiple stab wounds to the “neck and upper extremities,” as well as blunt force trauma to the head, the spokesman said.Īuthorities also had found stains inside the apartment where Stefaniak was staying, “which are compatible with blood and which will be submitted to further investigation and comparison,” he said.

“It was completely off because her flight was not until midday,” Fernandez told CNN affiliate WSVN. on November 28, as she got into an Uber to go to the airport. Stefaniak’s friend, Leandro Fernandez, said the security guard told Stefaniak’s relatives that he last saw her around 5 a.m. “The person linked to this homicide (Espinoza Martinez) was close to her and had the time and place to commit the crime,” he said. Related article Authorities believe body found in Costa Rica is missing US womanĮspinoza Martinez was arrested Monday and is in jail because he is a flight risk, the spokesman said. He worked as a security guard at the Airbnb where Stefaniak was staying, they said. Nearly a week had passed since Stefaniak’s relatives and friends in Florida embarked on an international search after she failed to return from her birthday celebration in Costa Rica.Ī partially decomposed body was found Monday about 300 yards from the apartment complex where Stefaniak was staying in a province just outside the country’s capital of San Jose, said Walter Espinoza, a spokesman with the nation’s Judicial Investigation Department.Īuthorities believe it was Stefaniak but have not officially identified the remains, they have said.Ī suspect, Bismarck Espinoza Martinez, 32, is in custody in the case, officials said Tuesday during a news conference. We will always be with her and we know she will always be with us. “We will never forget the joy she brought into our lives, how much she made us laugh. She checked in but did not board her afternoon flight back to Miami.Carla Stefaniak had been vacationing with her sister-in-law in Costa Rica. She told him she was 'thirsty and was going to ask one of the security guards to buy her a bottle of water' before her phone went dead.Īccording to the Airbnb security guards and the Uber driver, Stefaniak was last seen at 5am on November 28 getting into a mystery car with her luggage. In an interview with FOX News, Burton also said Stefaniak was Facetiming an unnamed friend at around 9pm. Stefaniak was on holidays with her sister-in-law. The last message sent from Stefaniak was at 8pm that night and read, 'It's pretty sketchy here'. When Stefaniak arrived at the rental, she and Burton were texting back and forth and she told her that the light was going on and off in her room. That same Uber driver took her 'sightseeing and shopping', according to family spokesperson Katie Gardner, and was due to pick her up the next morning to catch her flight home. The 36-year-old then caught an Uber back to her San Jose Airbnb, which was 30 minutes away. Burton returned home to Miami a day earlier than Stefaniak who dropped her to the airport. She was on holiday in Costa Rica with sister-in-law, April Burton, to celebrate her birthday. Stefaniak has not been seen since November 27.

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