A Google Street View image could provide a huge clue in a missing persons case.
Arelie Garcia, 25, from California, went missing on September 22, 2022. She stopped answering text messages from her family and never showed up to her job at a local car dealership.
After alerting the authorities, Arelie was found to have left her home at 6.30am - but she wasn't wearing her usual workwear.
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She was due to be in work at 7.30am, and had text her sister Veronica to say 'good morning'.
Referring to Veronica's son, Davian (who is Arelie's godson) she wrote: "Good morning. I miss you and my baby. Love you!"
When she never showed up to work, the team reached out to Eli Mendoza - Arelie's other sister - to say they were worried.
The sisters tried to message and call Arelie, but realised their texts were not being delivered.
Incredibly, a Google Street View image has now provided police with clues over what could have happened that morning.
The satellite system actually took a photo on the day that Arelie went missing, which shows her bright red Honda abandoned on the coast.
Police believe the image was taken around three hours after the vehicle was left.
It was discovered by Veronica, who used the Find My Phone app to locate Arelie's device.
The car was found locked, but Arelie's phone, keys and wallet were inside.
She was nowhere to be seen.
Following the discovery, police spent days scouring the area for clues, but have not been able to find anything of significance.
“It’s been like a scary movie since the day it happened. Like, it’s just been a nightmare,” Veronica told Dateline.
Meanwhile, detective Arras Wilson added: “We essentially searched four miles north of where her car was found and four miles south of where her car was found. So every cove, um, every beach, every trail, every turnoff, everything was searched — and there was no indication of Arelie.”
After analysing the vehicle, police did confirm that the driver's seat was pushed back further than Arelie would have usually had it.
The family have said that if she had been on the way to work, she shouldn't have been in the area the car was found.
Despite Arelie being due in work, a second video shows the car passing a general store at around 7.30am, which is around 20 minutes from the coastline where the Honda was discovered.
Despite the footage and images, the windows of the car were too tinted to see who was inside, or if Arelie was alone.
While the search continues, Arelie's family believe she is still out there, somewhere.
"We believe it in our hearts that she’s still out there somewhere, for sure," said Veronica.
Topics: News, US News, Cars, Google, Technology
Lucy Devine