Karla Vasquez, a missing Miami woman who texted her husband that she’d been kidnapped, was found alive and well after spending the night with a stranger she met at a local bar.
The Miami Herald reported that Vasquez, 32, a bartender at the Cheetah Gentleman’s Club in Hallandale Beach, called her husband, Daniel Pacheco, on early Thursday morning at around 4:30 a.m., while he was working the graveyard shift. She told him she was in danger , but thinking she was joking, Pacheco hung up on her. According to Miami police official Kenia Fallat, the scenario played out as follows.
“He received a call from her while he was at work stating that there were two men with her and that she was in danger. For a minute there, he took a pause and thought that it was a joke, so he let it slide.”
Vasquez texted back a few hours later and told Pacheco that she looked out a window in their home and saw two men were sitting in her vehicle. Pacheco drove home, but when he didn’t find his wife, he called the police. Authorities announced they thought her story sounded like a prank, but they still started searching for her, even cordoning the section of Northwest 42nd Street, close to her home.
@MiamiPD searching for Karla Flores Vasquez who could have been abducted. Looking for black ’08 Chevy Suburban. pic.twitter.com/LKB5pQtBCM
— Miami PD (@MiamiPD) June 30, 2016
On Thursday afternoon, Vasquez was found safe on Northeast 157th Street and 15th Avenue, sitting inside her black SUV. A prominent yellow Michael Jordan bumper sticker and GPS assistance helped police locate her.
Upon questioning, Vasquez told authorities that she made the story up, and although she didn’t admit it at the time, the motive could have been that she didn’t want her husband to know she was with another man. She fessed up to authorities that she never went home on Thursday, and instead, spent the night with a stranger she met in a bar.
Police eventually found and questioned the man Vasquez was with on Thursday. The unidentified man said that he met Vasquez at Styx Bar. He then stated that they that ended up going to several other places to drink before ending up back at his home. He also showed authorities pictures of Vasquez and himself, taken on his cellphone. According to the police report, she was never in danger.
“The defendant told us that after work she went out to a bar and never made it to her house. There she met [the man] and decided to spend the night with him. She was drinking with [the man] throughout the night. The defendant told us that she was never harmed or violated in any way.”
Numerous detectives were assigned to help locate Vasquez, costing the police department substantial hours of manpower and costs that could have been used on credible crime cases. So far, it’s unclear whether Vasquez will be liable for the costs assumed to find her.
The case shows similarity to the 2005 “runaway bride” incident, in which Georgia native Jennifer Wilbanks, who disappeared after a late afternoon jog, was later found guilty of making up a story about being kidnapped. When she didn’t return home from work, her former fiancé, John Mason, called authorities.
The search for Wilbanks ended up costing the city of Duluth around $60,000. She was later found in Albuquerque, New Mexico, alive and safe. She took a Greyhound bus out of Georgia after deciding she wasn’t ready to get married. The stunt ended up costing Wilbanks substantial fines and two years of probation.
#ThisDayInGAHistory in 2005 Jennifer Wilbanks, aka “Runaway Bride,” pretended she was kidnapped to avoid her wedding. pic.twitter.com/qisc1PQM77
— Today In GA History (@2DayInGAHistory) April 26, 2015
Karla Vasquez was arrested and charged with false report of commission of a crime, punishable of up to a year behind bars and/or a fine of up to $1,000. The man she was with on Thursday didn’t face any charges. According to Fallat, Vasquez was completely at fault.
“We had enough to arrest her for filing a false police report. It appears she was never in danger, she had a number of resources from the beginning until late hours into the day.”
[Police by Miami Police Department]
