Security guard held in death of Hallandale woman

She thought she was heading to a paradise vacation in Costa Rica, a safe place to ring in her 36th birthday. Instead, Carla Stefaniak vanished last week, never making it back home alive.

Authorities in Costa Rica said Tuesday they found what appears to be the body of the missing Hallandale Beach woman. Her body, covered in plastic bags, was discovered Monday about 300 yards from the Airbnb where she stayed.

Authorities have detained a 32-year-old security guard named Bismarck Espinosa Martinez in connection with her death, said Walter Espinoza, director general of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department. Officials zeroed in on him late Monday after noting several contradictions in his story about Stefaniak’s disappearance, Espinoza said.

Martinez left his homeland in Nicaragua in June to work as a security guard in Costa Rica. He lived on the same property where Stefaniak was staying. He was in Apartment No. 7. Stefaniak was in Apartment No. 8.

Espinoza shared no details on what police uncovered, other than to say they’ve reviewed surveillance footage and interviewed anyone they could find who had contact with Stefaniak.

He did reveal that Stefaniak appeared to have several injuries, including a blow to the head.

Investigators performed an autopsy Tuesday, and plan to work with the FBI

to match fingerprints to formally confirm the body belongs to Stefaniak.

“This is a complex, difficult case, and we’re doing all that we can within our ability to solve the case,” Espinoza said at a news conference. “It’s very important for the country and it’s very important for the victim’s family and for our society in general.”

Stefaniak chose to travel to Costa Rica because it’s been portrayed as a paradise where nothing bad happens, according to her best friend.

But on Monday, a body was found in a wooded area near the Airbnb property where Stefaniak was staying in Escazú, San José. And Tuesday morning, her family was at the morgue to help identify the body.

The body was badly decomposed, making it difficult to identify. Carlos Caicedo, Carla’s father, had his blood drawn Tuesday to help determine whether the body belonged to his daughter.

“I have hope that the body found is not my daughter’s,” he told reporters before his worst fear was confirmed.

Before the news broke, Stefaniak’s family and friends held out hope she was still alive.

“We are really really hoping it [is not her],” said Hallandale Beach resident Laura Jaime, Stefaniak’s best friend and former roommate. “We have faith.”

Stefaniak, who moved to Hallandale Beach three years ago, was last heard from on Nov. 27 — five days after landing in Costa Rica.

She was scheduled to fly home at 1 p.m. the next day, on her birthday. She checked in for her flight but never boarded the plane.

“Costa Rica is portrayed as paradise that’s safe for Americans,” Jaime said. “Nothing happens there. That’s why she picked Costa Rica, ironically.”

Stefaniak arrived in Costa Rica on Nov. 22 with her sister-in-law, April Antonieta Burton. Her companion flew home to Tampa a day early to get a better deal on the airfare, Jaime said.

Jaime headed to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Nov. 28 to pick up the birthday girl and take her out for a celebratory dinner.

“I just had a weird feeling even before I got to the airport,” Jaime said. “Carla is always on the phone. I started sending her birthday messages and no one had heard from her at all. That’s very unlike her.”

When Jaime got to the airport around 5 p.m., she went inside to wait for her friend.

“I saw everyone arrive,” she said. “They all took their bags and left. And she was not there. I stayed at the airport and talked to all the agents. One finally told me she was not on the plane. I freaked out.”

Jaime called Stefaniak’s family, then the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica.

Another friend emailed the owner of the Airbnb.

“He asked a guard at the property and the guard said he saw her leaving in an Uber at 5:10 a.m.,” Jaime said. “We checked her email and she did not take an Uber at 5:10 a.m. Then they changed the story that it was a taxi at 5:30 a.m.”

In her final text message to family, Stefaniak said it was raining, the power had gone out and the place seemed “pretty sketchy.”

That same night, she was Facetiming with a friend in New York when the call dropped about 9 p.m.

“He tried to Facetime her twice and he couldn’t get through,” Jaime said. “He thought the phone died or the reception was bad. Before the call dropped she said to him, ‘I’m thirsty. I’m going to ask the guard to buy me some water.’”