Police have launched an investigation following the disappearance of a California woman who told her stepdad she was heading to the gym 10 days ago and hasn’t been seen since.
Sara Celeste Otero, 28, was last seen on January 28 at 8.40am near Aldernay Court in Oceanside, 40 miles north of San Diego.
Her phone has been switched off since 10am that day, her family said. The family worries she may have harmed herself, as she had a history of drug abuse, but had been sober the last two years.
‘I’ve called it basically every hour basically that I’ve been up. Since it was confirmed that she was missing,’ her stepbrother Ryan Bear said.
The family reportedly liked to do outdoorsy activities, and Otero liked to spend time in nature. However, she has never cut off communication from her family before.
Sara Celeste Otero, 28, was last seen on January 28 at 8.40am near Aldernay Court in Oceanside, 40 miles north of San Diego
She switched her phone off around 10am that day and her families worries she may have harmed herself, as she has a past of drug abuse
‘To be missing for a few days and not answering family, that’s just never happened before,’ Bear said. ‘You’re loved. You’re cared for. Your family just wants to know that you’re safe and sound.’
She left her mother’s house on the morning of her disappearance after telling her stepfather she was heading to the gym, Chelsea told Fox News.
But she never arrived at the gym and the friend she allegedly planned to meet there said she had no idea about the arrangement.
Bear, said: ‘We’ve got very little details.
‘And that’s the entire reason that we’re trying to ask the public for any and all information at this point, because we don’t know anything.’
Bear said he believed Otero wanted to head to the beach alone but she then failed to turn up at work that evening at Mission Avenue Bar & Grill – a rarity for her.
‘She had never missed a day of work,’ he said.
Otero’s boyfriend, who she has only ever spoken to via Zoom, was working that morning and is just as heartbroken as the rest of the family, they said.
‘She’s grappling with a lot, she shared that she was feeling depressed…it’s affected [her and her boyfriend’s] relationship,’ her stepsister Chelsea told Fox News.
The couple had only recently started dating and they had ‘been going through some stuff,’ according to Otero’s stepsister Chelsea, but she said she did not suspect foul play.
She may be driving a Subaru Outback with the California license plate 7GAB955
According to police, Otero is five-foot-six and 130lbs with blue eyes and long, brown hair. She has many tattoos – including a Winnie the Pooh tattoo – and wears glasses. She was last seen wearing a green military-style jacket and bronze-colored leggings.
Police suspect she may be in a California State Park – specifically, Joshua Tree or area beaches – and has been known to camp in her car. Her car has not been spotting in any park cameras yet, Bear told CBS 8.
She also has ties to Boise, Idaho, where her family lived until 2019.
Police said she may be traveling in a charcoal gray Subaru Outback with the California license plate 7GAB955 with a license plate frame saying: ‘Some days are rocks.’
ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue82erqxnk5a5qrLOq6WimV2svK6tzWZpcWWYlsBursSepWalmajAqrrGZp2oql1mfW6wwLKqZquZo7CmedOeo6Whnpx6qbHRZqqtnaCZrqV50qGcZq%2BRqHqou8innmasn2K0urmO