She Texted "Good Morning" Then Vanished ... Where Is Arelie Garcia?

True Crime with Kendall Rae

This episode investigates the mysterious disappearance of 25-year-old Arelie Garcia from Salinas, California. After sending a routine 'good

Key takeaways

• Arelie Garcia's 2013 Honda Accord was discovered in Big Sur with her phone, keys, and wallet left inside.
• The driver's seat in the vehicle was pushed back significantly, suggesting a different person may have been driving.

Main topics

• Disappearance of Arelie Garcia
• Suspicious clues in Big Sur

Notable quotes

It doesn't matter what type of a day you're having. If you see Arely, you know you're going to be laughing.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a plea for public awareness and community suppor

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:08) Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so very much for joining me today. And if you're new to my show, welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. And make sure to click subscribe or follow so that you never miss an upload of mine. Now, whether you have been there or not, I'm sure plenty of us can just picture California's Highway 1. The incredibly scenic views are almost... too beautiful to be real. With the Pacific Ocean on one side and California's mountainous coastline on the other, there's a good reason that people choose to take the long way when driving up the coast. But in the case that we're going to be talking about today, Highway 1 really loses its magic. In today's episode, we're going to be talking about the very bizarre and frustrating disappearance of Arely Garcia, who vanished from that very same coast. That is, if you believe she even made it that far. Now, Arely's case desperately needs more attention, and I'm really hoping, in fact, I know, that my audience is going to come together and support her family. Also, my team over at Higher Hope is actively reaching out to her family to offer them a Hope Grant. very eager to see if there's any way that we Speaker 2 (1:24) can Speaker 1 (1:25) support them, however that looks. And if you're curious about the work that we do through Higher Hope, I would love for you to check out our monthly newsletter. It'll be linked below. You can subscribe to it and you can receive updates on exactly what we're doing. And you can also, of course, follow us on socials, which is higherhope.org. I would so very much appreciate a follow. That's definitely the best way to keep up to date with our grantees, especially if you've ever wondered what happens after these episodes go live where we have been able to offer a Hope Grant. Your support of Mile Higher Media and the Higher Hope Foundation means the world to us. We've been able to do so much with it. We're going on two years now and I'm incredibly proud of it. And you know, it's not lost on me that you all make it possible. Before getting into this episode, I just wanted to thank you all for listening to and supporting my show and also any of the Mile Higher Media shows. Your support makes it possible for us to continue funding grants through my foundation, Higher Hope, which supports victims of violent crimes, their families, and like-minded nonprofits. And with that... I want to start out by telling you more about Arely. So Arely Garcia was born on July 22nd, 1997 in Salinas, California, and she was the youngest of seven siblings. And among her siblings, she was especially close with two of her big sisters, Ellie and Veronica. And I just have to say, these two young women have done a phenomenal job of advocating for their baby sister. It's truly beautiful to see. Through their interviews, I was able to learn a lot about Arely, and they've just really, you know, made her personality shine and done their best to make sure that as many people know her story and are aware of her case as possible. On top of having what sounds like a heart of just pure gold, they describe her as a very bubbly, fun, funny person who was always quick to laugh. According to her sister Veronica, quote, It doesn't matter what type of day you're having. If you see Arely, you know you're going to be laughing. They've also shared that she was the most selfless person they know, and she always went out of her way to help others. And one thing that I just had to note was that Arely loved Starbucks. I mean, she really kept them in business, you could say. She was there every single day, pretty much, according to her family. And oftentimes she would get the pink drink, which is, you know, a classic. So good. She would just get whatever she was in the mood for that day. It was really part of her routine. But if there's one thing that she loved more than Starbucks, it was her car and just cars in general. After she graduated from Salinas High School, Speaker 2 (4:02) she began training at the Center for Employment in Automotive Mechanics. And after completing Speaker 1 (4:07) that program, she worked in Watsonville for MyChevrolet and then ended up getting a job at MyNissan. And then she ended up transferring back to MyChevrolet. this time in Salinas, where she worked as a service advisor. And it's funny, it sounds like she didn't love this most recent job much at first, but then over time just ended Speaker 2 (4:27) up loving it. And her co-workers loved her too. I mean, really just adored her. They described her as the happy one. You could definitely say that working in and around cars just brought her a lot of joy, a lot of fulfillment. It was something that was really a passion of hers. And here's a clip. of her sisters talking about her job history a little bit more. She Speaker 3 (4:51) was working here and there. She's always worked her whole life. And then she went to CET in San Jose. I don't know if you guys know about the Center for Employment Training in San Jose. Speaker 8 (5:01) Okay, cool. Yeah, Speaker 3 (5:02) so we went there. She went for auto mechanic. Speaker 8 (5:06) Oh wow. Yeah, Speaker 3 (5:07) she went for auto mechanics. She loves cars. She's really into cars. Classic Speaker 8 (5:11) cars or more of the muscle cars nowadays? Speaker 3 (5:12) I think muscle cars. Muscle cars? Yeah, yeah. And after that, she got a job at the... I think she worked in Watsonville for a bit actually. Speaker 8 (5:21) Oh, it was? Speaker 3 (5:22) Yeah, she worked in Watsonville for a bit. Speaker 7 (5:25) What Speaker 3 (5:25) was she working in? Port of Watsonville. What was Speaker 7 (5:27) it? What was it? Shepherd Island? Speaker 3 (5:30) I think it was my Chevrolet in Watsonville. And then after that, she got transferred to Salina. No, actually, she didn't get transferred. She looked for a job here in town. And she started working at my Nissan, and she was there for quite a few years. And then she got transferred, like, a couple years ago to my Chevrolet, which she hated at first. She hated that job at first. She wanted to go back to my Nissan. But, like, after she loved it, and, like, she didn't want to go back. Because I'm guessing, like, they were short-staffed or something like that. So they moved her to my Chevrolet Lego. When the manager wanted her back to my Nissan, like, she didn't want to go back there. So she stayed. Speaker 8 (6:05) Was she working in sales or like auto mechanics? She Speaker 3 (6:08) is a Speaker 8 (6:08) service advisor. Service advisor? Speaker 3 (6:09) Service advisor. Yeah, service advisor. Yeah. Speaker 1 (6:12) Now, in her spare time, she devoted a bunch of time and energy into fixing up her 2013 Honda Accord, which... She made a ton of modifications too. Now, I don't know much about cars, but I'm going to do my best to explain what she had done to it. She had it wrapped in this super vibrant, really shiny red color, almost like a candy apple red in my opinion. She also had the windows tinted and she put in one of those suspension systems where you could raise or lower the body of the car. And that actually becomes very important to remember later on. Speaker 2 (6:44) So keep that in mind. But another thing that she was just super involved in was her local car club and car shows. I mean, her car was really her baby and getting to be part of the community and show it off brought her a lot of joy. She attended Speaker 1 (7:00) a lot of those kinds of events and really seemed to be a big part of that community. However, for as much as she loved working with cars, and she truly did, she was starting to transition into a new career. In 2022, she had been taking online classes at a community college in order to become an ultrasound technician. And it honestly sounds like she had a ton on her plate, but... From how her sisters talk about her, Arely actually seemed to thrive in a busy environment. Speaker 2 (7:28) There were actually several points in her young adult life where she was juggling multiple jobs and just had a lot on her Speaker 1 (7:34) plate in general, but she always had been very, you know, routine-oriented and organized and able to juggle it all. But I really want to drive it home that she followed a very strict daily routine. And because of that routine, her sisters realized very quickly that something had to have been wrong when on September 22, 2022, Speaker 2 (7:59) Arely did not show up for work. Speaker 5 (8:09) I have always been a creative person. 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Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocketmoney.com slash Kendall Ray. That's rocketmoney.com slash Kendall Ray. rocketmoney.com slash Kendall Ray. If you've been listening to my show for any amount of time, you've probably heard me talk about Nutrafol and how much I genuinely love it. Now, Nutrafol is something that I have been using and paying for on my own way before they started sponsoring me. I found it when I was postpartum with my daughter about four years ago. I was dealing with so much hair thinning and shedding, and I was totally stressed out, just not feeling like myself, so I started researching options. And it turns out there's a lot of bad options out there. But once I found Nutrafol, It completely changed my hair. Right now, since I'm about six months postpartum, I am taking their postpartum blend, but I've also taken their women's blend, which is excellent. 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Right now, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you visit Nutrafol.com and enter promo code KENDALLRAY. That's Nutrafol.com spelled N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L dot com promo code KENDALLRAY. Speaker 1 (12:00) And let me just set the scene for you a little bit more here. At some point, the exact timing isn't totally clear, but her parents split up. And after this, Arely ended up moving into a two-bedroom apartment with her Speaker 2 (12:14) mom, Blanca, right there in Salinas. And on a typical week, she would wake up, she would leave for the gym around 5.30 a.m., then she would work out, of course, shower, and get dressed for work at the gym, and then go right to my Chevrolet from there. And Speaker 1 (12:30) both her job and her gym were located within 10 minutes of her apartment. So very convenient. Wasn't like there was a long commute by any means. However, on September 22nd, her sister Ellie was very surprised to have gotten a phone call from one of her sister's co-workers saying that she never made it in. Arely was a very reliable person. but also a very reliable employee. And if she was ever, you know, missing a shift or running late for work, she always notified someone first. It was not like her to just no call, no show like that. So then Ellie reached out to Veronica to ask if she had heard from her. And she actually had. At 6.56 a.m., Arely had texted Veronica saying, good morning, smiley face. I miss you and my baby. Love you. And just FYI, the baby that she's referring to is Veronica's son, who is Arely's godson. And when that text came in that morning, Veronica was actually still sleeping. And so she didn't see the message until she woke up a few hours later at 8.53 a.m. And she replied with, Hi, lovey. Miss you too. And so does Guppy. Love you. However, Veronica didn't realize at the time that when she responded to her sister, it didn't actually deliver. And of Speaker 2 (13:49) course, this is something that happens to all of us. This actually just happened to me yesterday. You know, I sent off a text to someone and then didn't actually make sure that it had gone through. And... never realized that it