He showed a photo of his four children - Carla and her sister, and their two brothers. "It's too much for us," her father, Carlos Stefaniak, told ABC Action News in Tampa from Costa Rica. On Wednesday, her family worked to bring her body home so they could make funeral arrangements. It was Stefaniak.Īn autopsy revealed that Stefaniak suffered a blunt force wound to the head and cuts on the neck and arms. On Tuesday, a body was found half-buried and covered in plastic in a wooded area about 1,000 feet (305 meters) from the hotel. The family wondered why she would have taken a car to the airport at 5 a.m. But then he changed his story, according to Costa Rican media, and authorities scrutinized the details more. 28 and helped her put her bags into a taxi. Then came a break: the hotel guard said he'd last seen Stefaniak at 5 a.m. The family alerted Costa Rican authorities and launched a social media campaign to find her. 28 flight to Florida, the family discovered a troubling detail: she had checked in for her flight on the 26th. "Everything she did she always shared with friends and that's when we knew definitely something was up as soon as we lost contact with her," Demirel said.Īfter Stefaniak failed to board her Nov. She added that it was "pretty sketchy here" and included a picture of the Airbnb. 27.ĭemirel said she texted a friend that it was "raining crazy" and the power was out. Language wasn't an issue Stefaniak was born in Venezuela, then moved to Tampa in 2000 with her family and finally settled in South Florida.Īfter her sister-in-law left, an Uber driver took her on a tour of San Jose, then dropped her off at the Airbnb around 5 p.m. Stefaniak reserved an Airbnb about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the airport in San Jose for her final night in the country. 27 - her birthday - Stefaniak's sister-in-law returned home the two women had booked different return flights on different days. "I'm going to miss the place," she wrote. 23, she posted a photo of her looking at the ocean that said, "Future resident of Costa Rica." Two days later, her last Instagram picture featured her in a turquoise bathing suit, lying near a pool with tropical plants in the background. Her trips included visits to Iceland, Switzerland and Mexico, all documented on social media.įor her birthday, she and her sister-in-law decided to visit Costa Rica for a short trip.Īs with her other journeys, Stefaniak posted photos on her Instagram. Stefaniak, who was an insurance agent, loved to travel and post photos on Instagram. Villa Le Mas's attorney, Federico Jenkins, said the owners are cooperating with the authorities in the investigation. He is believed to have lived in Costa Rica since June.Īirbnb removed Villa le Mas - a compound with seven vacation apartments - from its site and said Wednesday that it had reached out to family members to offer condolences. He said Carla was a "happy soul" who made everyone laugh and had a large social media presence.Įspinosa Martinez, a Nicaraguan immigrant, was working as a security guard at the complex despite lacking the proper documents to be in Costa Rica, department officials said at a news conference in San Jose. "What happened to Carla is just unimaginable," friend Bugra Demirel of Tallahassee said in a telephone interview. Investigators said blood was found in his nearby apartment. Security guard Bismark Espinosa Martinez, 32, was arrested in the slaying after he contradicted himself in statements to police, the department said Wednesday. Stefaniak's family members also traveled to there to help with identification. Officials later found a partially buried body in woods near the Villa le Mas complex and identified it using fingerprints, the country's Judicial Investigation Department said. That prompted her family to raise the alarm with Costa Rican authorities. 28 return flight after messaging friends that it was "pretty sketchy" at her resort. (AP) - A security guard at a Costa Rica Airbnb rental villa was arrested in the death of a Florida woman who was remembered by friends as an avid world traveler and "happy soul," authorities said Wednesday.Ĭarla Stefaniak of Hallandale Beach, Florida, went to the Central American country to celebrate her 36th birthday but never boarded her Nov.
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