Pictures of Sara Celeste Otero and her charcoal gray Subaru Outback.
A missing California woman tragically turned up dead at the bottom of a cliff near a U.S. Marine base.
The Oceanside Police Department found Sara Celeste Otero, 28, late Tuesday, according to KUSI reporter Hunter Sowards.
UPDATE: I am heartbroken to share the news that Oceanside PD located Sara Celeste Otero’s body near Camp Pendleton late Tuesday. Because of the location she was found, a helicopter was used to remove her body from the bottom of a cliff.
Foul play is not suspected. pic.twitter.com/Rowj2aSbHr— Hunter Sowards (@huntersowards3) February 9, 2022
Officials are reportedly saying they do not suspect foul play. Cause of death is pending. Family previously said Otero was depressed.
Detectives with the Oceanside Police Department found her car Tuesday evening, and followed her trail to a remote, restricted area near Camp Pendleton, police spokesperson Jennifer Atenza told Fox News. It was there that authorities found Otero’s remains.
“Oceanside detectives were scouring areas like that knowing that’s kind of what she is known to frequent,” Atenza said.
Authorities previously described Otero as an avid visitor of state parks, and they said she has been known to camp in her car. Stepsister Chelsea confirmed to the outlet that police found Otero’s body.
“We were able to identify it based on her tattoos,” she said.
Otero sported three designs: a flower on her arm, the sentence “It’s in our nature” on her right bicep, and Winnie the Pooh on her ankle.
Sara Celeste Otero’s stepbrother tells The Independent that the 28-year-old seemed to be in a better place recently and that they had made plans to go on a hike together the day after she went missing https://t.co/RfdgCbvBVJ
— The Independent (@Independent) February 9, 2022
MISSING OCEANSIDE WOMAN: Sara “Celeste” Otero hasn’t been seen or heard from in 10 days. She’s an avid traveler but we’re told this is out of character.
She may be traveling in a gray Subaru Outback with California license plate 7GAB95. Call @OceansidePD with any information. pic.twitter.com/9FDrztYYzT
— Hunter Sowards (@huntersowards3) February 9, 2022
Otero was last seen on Jan. 28. Her family was in the dark about her possible whereabouts. She had left her mother’s house and told her stepfather she was going to the gym, Chelesa previously told Fox News. Otero was supposedly going to meet a friend there for a workout, but that friend told the relatives that she had no idea about this.
Stepbrother Ryan Bear had said he thought Otero was going to be at a beach, but she then did not show up to work that evening, which he described as out of character.
“She had never missed a day of work,” he said.
Sara Celeste Ortero, 28, from Oceanside, has been missing since Jan. 28. She wears glasses, was last seen wearing a green military-style jacket, bronze leggings, and drives a charcoal gray Subaru Outback.
If you see her, or have any info, contact police.https://t.co/W4dqtJUbi6
— KUSI News (@KUSINews) February 9, 2022
Family said Otero’s phone had been off since 10 a.m. that morning.
The disappearance also distressed her boyfriend, who she only met through Zoom amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Chelsea during the missing persons case.
“She’s grappling with a lot, she shared that she was feeling depressed…it’s affected their relationship,” she said.
[Images via Oceanside Police Department]
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