Mystery Down Highway 1
2024-07-16 00:03:26
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Hello, I'm Keith Morrison, with a special preview of season three of Dateline Missing in America, brought to you by Progressive. Our first episode is the case of Areli Garcia, a young California woman who loved her custom-color bright red car, so when police found it parked along the Pacific Coast Highway, miles from her home, and Areli was nowhere to be found, a mystery began. Josh Mankiewicz tells the story.
Tucked between the Pacific and the mountains on California's central coast, Big Sur is a 90-mile stretch of breathtaking beauty.
The author, Henry Miller, said, It was here in Big Sur that I first learned to say, Amen. To see what he was talking about, you'll need to brave Highway 1.. Its two lanes wind above steep cliffs, with waves crashing below. There are places to pull off to soak in the views. It's the vista of a hundred TV commercials.
On September 22, 2022, something happened here that you'll never see on any postcard of this slice of paradise. On that morning, a bright red Honda Accord cruised south down Highway 1 and pulled over just past mile marker 56.. Who was in that car, and what happened before and after that moment, are questions that haunt a family.
The Honda belonged to 25-year-old Areli Garcia, and she hasn't been seen or heard from since that morning.
It's been like a scary movie since the day it happened. Like, it's just been a nightmare. And we pray every night that she comes home.
Veronica Garcia and Ellie Mendoza are Areli's sisters. Is there any reason why your sister would be in Big Sur?
No idea. It's still a mystery to this day.
A mystery that, to Areli's family and others, sounds eerily similar to another case.
They're both young, you know. They're both women of color. They both went missing in the same area. It is very shady, for sure.
I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Dateline Missing in America. Today's episode is Mystery Down Highway 1..
We first covered Areli's story in September 2023.
. Her family was desperate to find Areli then, and they're still searching for her. Please listen closely, because you, or someone you know, might have information that could help solve this case and give Areli's family the answers they're looking for.
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