Family seeks help finding woman who didn’t return from trip

She was supposed to arrive home, on Wednesday from a birthday trip to Costa Rica, but family and friends have not heard from Carla Stefaniak since then and they are worried.

The 36-year-old Hallandale Beach woman was celebrating with her sister-inlaw, April Antonieta-Burton, who flew home to Tampa on Tuesday.

“We just want to know where she is,” she told WFOR Ch.4. “We just want to find out where she was.”

Antonieta-Burton’s husband, who is Stefaniak’s brother, has flown to Costa Rica to find her, she said.

The family has opened a GoFundMe account to raise money for the search.

The GoFundMe page says Stefaniak was last heard from about 8 p.m. Tuesday and never made her 1 p.m. flight Wednesday.

Her last text said that it was raining and there were sporadic power failures where she was staying. The family said they checked with Airbnb, Uber and security guards who said they last saw Stefaniak getting into an unknown car about 5 a.m. Wednesday.

“U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica and FBI is already alerted,” Antonieta-Burton said on GoFundMe. “They have opened a missing person case and they are trying to work with local authorities.”

There was a report from Costa Rica that a kidnapped tourist had been found, but Antonieta-Burton said, on her Facebook page, that report was false.

FAMILY PHOTOS/COURTESY Carla Stefaniak, 36, of Hallandale, has been missing in Costa Rica since Nov. 27, her family says.