The body of Carla Stefaniak, the Florida woman who went missing in Costa Rica, has been identified and a suspect is under arrest in connection with her death.
The last message Carla Stefaniak's family received from her was a text that read, "It's pretty sketchy here."
The 36-year-old sent the text on November 27 from the Airbnb rental where she was staying in Costa Rica. She was scheduled to fly home to Florida the next day but hasn't been seen or heard from since.
Now her family confirms that Stefaniak's lifeless body was located behind her rental, partially covered in plastic bags. Walter Espinoza, head of Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Department reports that the cause of death is head trauma, and that a security guard at the Airbnb rental property has been arrested in connection with the death after he gave conflicting statements to police.
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Stefaniak was in Costa Rica with her sister-in-law April Burton, celebrating her birthday. Burton flew home early on November 27. Stefaniak was due to fly home the following day.
After dropping Burton off at the airport, she reportedly paid her Uber driver to give her a tour of San Jose and then returned to her Airbnb where she texted family members that the power was going in and out. She also texted the "sketchy" comment at that time. She did not contact them or use social media again, and did not board her flight the next day.
“We just know she has been abducted,” Burton told WFLA News. “There is no reason for her not to have any contact with anyone. It has been five days.”
The family flew to Costa Rica and tweeted asking for "prayers" as they prepared to identify Stefaniak's body at the local morgue.
This is a developing story and will be updated.