The disappearance of a young woman could potentially be solved through a seemingly ordinary snapshot on Google Street View. A picture captured on September 22, 2022 shows Arelie Garcia’s personalized red Honda abandoned by the California coast, hours after she had left her home for what would turn out to be the last time.
According to Arelie’s older sister Veronica, “It’s been like a scary movie since the day it happened. Like, it’s just been a nightmare.” The image still remains on Google Street View today, almost two years after her disappearance. This image could potentially hold the key to unraveling how this unique car ended up parked at Big Sur, more than an hour away from Arelie’s apartment in Salinas.
Arelie customized her car, referring to it as her “baby”, with an air suspension system that allowed her to raise and lower its chassis. She would normally park it low to the ground which is known in car culture as “slamming.” However, the image showed the Honda not parked this way, and the driver’s seat was pushed back more than Arelie would have had it, leading the family to suspect that someone else might have been driving her car.
Her family was the first to discover the abandoned car around 6 pm that evening using a phone tracking app. The car keys, wallet, and phone were found inside the Honda, but there was no trace of Arelie herself or any sign of foul play.
The 25-year-old’s family began to worry when she stopped responding to texts around 10 am that morning, an unusual behavior as she was supposed to be at her job at a local car dealership. Surveillance footage revealed that Arelie had left her home at 6:30 am dressed in casual clothes instead of her office attire, suggesting she may have planned to skip work and meet someone.
The precise moment when her red sedan pulled onto the turnout at Big Sur remains a mystery, but the Google Street View snapshot narrows down the timeframe—it was taken at noon that day. The image shows it parked in front of a white SUV and a silver sedan, whose owners have since been interviewed by police. Neither recalled seeing Arelie, indicating the car had likely been there for much longer.
Despite extensive efforts, law enforcement has not yet found any trace of Arelie or uncovered any clues about her possible whereabouts. However, Arelie’s family remains hopeful, believing in their hearts that she is still out there somewhere.
