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Newly Engaged Couple Vanishes Shortly After Moving In Together, Leaving A Cell Phone Behind
Stephanie Mayorga and Paige Escalera's new roommate found one of their cell phones left behind on their bed.
Police in North Carolina are seeking the public’s help in finding a newly engaged couple who disappeared shortly after moving in together.
Stephanie Mayorga, 27, and Paige Escalera, 25, have not been seen since April 15, the Wilmington Police Department said Monday. The pair recently became engaged and moved into an apartment together in Wilmington in March, Escalera’s sister Stevie Jenkins told Oxygen.com. She added that the pair haven't known each other long.
It was the couple's new roommate who filed a missing persons report after not seeing the couple for three days, Jenkins said.
“They had only lived there a week or so before they went missing,” Jenkins told Oxygen.com. “As I have been contacting her close friends, I have found that every single one of them had been blocked from her social media over the last week or two. It is normal for family to not hear from her, but not her closest friends. As I spoke with Stephanie's friends, they say it isn't normal at all that they don't hear from Stephanie.”
It appears that Mayorga’s phone has been shut off since April 15 — the day she vanished, Jenkins said.
“Her boss says he tried calling her when she never showed the next morning,” she told Oxygen.com.
Jenkins said that her sister’s phone was left behind on the couple's bed and was given to police as evidence by their roommate. Jenkins said that the roommate has been helpful and cooperative.
Police believe that the women could possibly be traveling in a dark grey Dodge Dart with South Carolina tags. Escalera has large tattoos on both arms, including one of a skull and the word "Laila," and a beauty mark on her right cheek, according to her sister. Mayorga has a small wrist tattoo. It appears that both could have tattoos on their ring fingers as well.
“I am at a loss,” Jenkins told Oxygen.com. “I was just rekindling my relationship with my sister that has not been so well for the last 10 years. For the first time in a long time I felt like I finally had her back.”
Jenkins said that her sibling had just finished getting her GED and was attending college. Recently, Escalera was growing closer with her family, too.
Jenkins added that Escalera has had her share of troubles but said “she is an amazing person and has always pulled out making the right choices. She has a big heart and is willing to help anyone but I am scared that she may have gotten into trouble this way.”
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Wilmington Police Department at (910)-343-3609.
