[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
This is such a heartbreaking and deeply unsettling story.
A young Australian woman who was supposed to be wrapping up an American vacation and heading home has instead become the focus of an urgent missing persons investigation after mysteriously disappearing in Las Vegas just before a planned trip to Los Angeles.
According to reporting from the US Sun and other media outlets this week, 26-year-old Sally Grace Contarino (pictured above, via a handout from the Vegas police) had been traveling solo through the American Southwest recently. She was visiting well-known destinations in the region before her scheduled journey home to Australia. However, family members reportedly lost contact with her on June 20 — just one day before she was expected to begin the trip that would ultimately take her back home.
Investigators have been working to reconstruct her final known movements through surveillance footage collected from several locations around Las Vegas. One of the last confirmed public sightings of Contarino reportedly occurred on the evening of June 19, when security cameras captured her leaving Timbers Bar & Grill at around 10:30 p.m., per the US Sun and others.
She was seen walking back toward the hostel where she had been staying dressed in dark shorts, a matching tank top, and black-and-white Converse sneakers.
Authorities have also reviewed footage showing her returning to the hostel during the early morning hours of June 20. Additional surveillance reportedly shows her using an ATM before contact with her was lost. Despite that activity, investigators say she later checked out of the hostel remotely rather than leaving in person, adding yet another confusing detail to an already baffling timeline.
One aspect of the case that has drawn attention is where she had been staying during her visit. Contarino had spent several nights at the Bungalows Hostel on South Las Vegas Boulevard. Speaking to the US Sun, one Timbers Bar & Grill employee described the surrounding neighborhood as “terrible” and said she would not recommend it for a woman traveling alone. Even so, she recalled that Contarino appeared quiet, pleasant, and in good spirits during her visit to the restaurant, with nothing suggesting she was experiencing any obvious distress.
Perhaps one of the most puzzling details is that Contarino had reportedly already made arrangements for the next leg of her trip. She had purchased a Greyhound bus ticket that was supposed to take her from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, where she planned to catch her international flight back to Australia. Investigators say the ticket was never scanned, however — indicating she likely never boarded the bus.
Police now believe she may have disappeared somewhere near the Mount Charleston area, roughly 30 miles west of Las Vegas. The scenic mountain region is popular with visitors looking to hike or escape the desert heat. But weirdly, authorities have not publicly disclosed why they believe the area may be connected to her disappearance. Officers continue reviewing surveillance footage while local hospitals have reportedly been asked to check their admission records in case she sought medical care under unknown circumstances, per local media outlets.
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Per news.com.au, friends and loved ones have described Contarino as an experienced international traveler who had visited the US several times before, so it’s not like she wasn’t at least somewhat familiar with American culture. Previous trips included destinations such as Palm Springs and Las Vegas, too — so, she apparently knew the region. But also, now that familiarity with traveling the general area has only made her unexplained disappearance even more difficult for those closest to her to understand.
Police have described Contarino as having a slim build with fair skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. Investigators are asking anyone who may have seen her or who has information about her whereabouts to come forward as the search continues.
So sad…
[Image via Media handout/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department]
