Tarzana woman vanishes from Reseda parking lot

Saturday, January 14, 2017
Tarzana woman vanishes from Goodwill parking lot
A family put out a desperate plea for help after a Tarzana woman vanished from a Goodwill parking lot without a trace.

TARZANA, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Tarzana woman vanished from a parking lot without a trace and her family and friends pleaded for help finding her.

Sarah Garcia said she was shopping at the Goodwill in Reseda with her older sister, 26-year-old Maricela Garcia, at about 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Maricela Garcia told her sister she was stepping outside to have a cigarette, but she never returned to the store.

Sarah Garcia walked outside the store to look for her sister and said there was no sign of her.

Maricela Garcia's car was still in the parking lot with her purse and cigarettes inside.

"This behavior is completely spontaneous and it's not like her," Sarah Garcia said. "She wouldn't just leave me there. She wouldn't leave her car. It just doesn't make sense."

Sarah Garcia said her sister has a cellphone, but it has been turned off.

Los Angeles police said there was no evidence of foul play in Maricela's disappearance, but stated it's under suspicious circumstances.

"We haven't ruled out anything. It's odd that she walked away, but we're still investigating it and what I am saying is that there's no evidence of foul play that we've determined at this time," Lt. Kirk Kelly with the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Sarah Garcia said her sister had a history of drug use, but had been clean for the past year after the two moved in together.

According to an officer, Maricela Garcia has gone missing before.

Anyone with information that could aid detectives in their investigation was urged to call the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division at (818) 374-7611.