A legally blind social activist from Detroit has gone missing in Peru in a disappearance that has triggered an investigation by the United States State Department and Peruvian police, with her family pleading for the public's help in finding her.
According to her family and friends, Carla Valpeoz, a 35-year-old social worker and trailblazer for the visually impaired, has not been heard of since Dec. 12, when she was staying at the Pariwana Hostel in Cusco. She has missed her flights home, her phone has been off for days and investigators are looking into her credit card activity for clues as to her whereabouts.
Valpeoz, a worldwide traveler and author of Visionless Adventures, had gone to Peru with a friend for a wedding and had planned to stay two weeks in the country touring various sites. She spent the first six days of the trip in Lima with her friend, Alicia Steele, 32, of Detroit. The two were supposed to return to the U.S. on Dec. 15.
According to Steele, after the wedding, Valpeoz had planned to go to Machu Picchu, an ancient village built by the Incas and one of the most popular tourist sites of Peru. Steele said that her friend went alone on that trip and had plans to meet her back in Lima on Dec. 13.
On Dec. 11 at 11:47 p.m., Steele received a text message from her friend about her trip to Machu Picchu.
"I can't wait to tell you all about it. It was absolutely worth 100%," the text message read. "I'm coming in on Thursday afternoon so I will send you the details through email once I check in. It would be a wonderful welcoming to have all of you come pick me up."
But Valpeoz never showed up in Lima. She was supposed to arrive at 6:43 p.m. on a flight she had purchased on Orbitz.
Steele thought that her friend might have lost her phone, so she decided to just meet her at the airport on Dec. 15 for their return flight back to the U.S. Her friend had traveled the world, been to many countries. She presumed she was okay.
But Valpeoz never showed up for the return flight, either. Worried, Steele filed a missing persons report with the police and has stayed in Peru, looking for her friend.
"We've been searching ever since," Steele told the Free Press in a phone interview Monday from Peru. "The last thing we heard is that a man who works at the entrance of Machu Picchu saw her. She was by herself on the 15th and was going to climb up Machu Picchu ... she looked well and she looked good."
But there's a lot of confusing information being relayed, Steele and family said, noting Valpeoz had already been to Machu Piccu days before.
"This would have been after her flight back to Detroit. She already did that. She spent the entire day there. Why would she have to go back?" said her brother, Carlos Valpeoz of Brooklyn, NY, who has been working diligently to find his sister and has been in contact with some friends she made while traveling in Peru.
Carla Valpeoz, a 35-year-old, visually impaired Detroit resident has been reported missing while traveling in or around Cusco, Peru. According to family, her last known location was the Pariwana Hostel in Cusco on the morning of December 12. (Photo: Carlos Valpeoz)
According to Carlos Valpeoz, his sister met up with a tour group of three Spanish travelers and a man from Argentina and toured the Machu Picchu site together on Dec. 11. He has photos of her at the ancient site and the Ministry of Culture has a record of his sister visiting the site on that day.
Carlos Valpeoz said he also learned that his sister went to some hot springs with the travelers she met along the way, had lunch with them and went out dancing at a club.
"She seemed happy and in good spirits. They had a few drinks and danced all night," Carlos Valpeoz said the other travelers told him.
Carlos Valpeoz said he does not believe that the friends his sister made during her travels know anything about her disappearance. He said they appear genuinely concerned about her and have been working closely with him and authorities in helping trace her steps.
"They seem extremely concerned, really freaked out and very open and willing to discuss anything that I've asked them," Carlos Valpeoz said, noting "they've all reached out to me."
According to Carlos Valpeoz, after the night of dancing at the club, his sister sent a message in Spanish to one of her new traveling friends at 10:02 a.m. on Dec. 12. It read: "Hi. I wanted to tell you I am going on a trip today to check out some places. But I think I'll be back around 1 p.m. and I'll message you to see where you are and maybe we can meet up and see some museums. I hope you got some rest."
That same morning, police have surveillance video of Carla entering a taxi and heading to a street where there is a bus terminal. It is not known if she got on a bus. He said the State Department has tracked her to a town called Pisac, about an hour north of Cusco. It's a route one would take if they were headed toward The Sacred Valley, Machu Piccu.
Carlos Valpeoz said that his family is worried, but hopeful, noting that his sister is a savvy traveler who has flown the world, to places including Egypt, Yemen and Europe. He said his sister's disappearance has been widely reported by media in Peru, and he is hoping the American media will pick up on the story as well in the hopes of finding any clues that may help bring her home.
"She's a big advocate for Detroit. She's got an incredible heart," he said. "I think she just wants to see the world before she can't anymore. She's a lot of people rooting for her."
Carla Valpeoz is 5'1'' with brown hair and brown eyes. She travels with a walking cane when alone. She was last seen traveling with a green backpack.
Carla Valpeoz, right, is a 35-year-old, visually impaired Detroit resident has been reported missing while traveling in or around Cusco, Peru. According to family, her last known location was the Pariwana Hostel in Cusco on the morning of December 12. (Photo: Carlos Valpeoz)
Carla Valpeoz, middle right, is a 35-year-old, visually impaired Detroit resident has been reported missing while traveling in or around Cusco, Peru. According to family, her last known location was the Pariwana Hostel in Cusco on the morning of December 12. (Photo: Carlos Valpeoz)
Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @Tbaldas.
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