🚨 THE SEARCH FOR MISSING AUSSIE TOURIST SALLY CONTARINO TAKES AN EMOTIONAL TURN — FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND STRANGERS RALLY BEHIND ONE HEARTBREAKING MESSAGE
The 26-year-old never boarded her planned flight home after a solo trip to the US.
A family friend has shared a heartfelt message to an Australian woman who vanished in the US, as the desperate search nears one-month.
Sally Grace Contarino, 26, had been travelling solo in America before she failed to board her flight home to Melbourne on June 21.
In the hours before she became uncontactable, Contarino had been on a night out in Las Vegas, 7NEWS.com.au understands.
She spoke to loved ones on the phone afterwards on June 20, and had planned to call again within hours, but never did.
‘Stay strong, Sally’
Contarino’s family and friends have continued searching for answers, with an online forum dedicated to finding her remaining active every day.
In a message shared on behalf of her family, a family friend urged the 26-year-old to “stay strong”.
“Sally stay strong, we are all searching to bring you home,” the message read.
The friend described Contarino as “so much more than a missing person”.
“She is a beautiful young woman with the biggest heart, a bright smile that lights up any room, and a carefree spirit that brings joy wherever she goes,” they wrote.
“She is the kind of person who will do anything for anyone, always putting others before herself.
“She is a much-loved daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece and friend, and she is missed beyond words every single day.”
The post said Contarino’s mother, Lucy, and sisters, Lauren and Amy, wanted to thank everyone who had searched for her and shared her story.
“Your compassion, kindness and determination have brought comfort during the darkest of days and reminded them that there are people all over the world standing beside them,” they wrote.
“Every person who continues to care means more than you will ever know.
“Sally is deeply loved, deeply missed, and we all will never stop searching for the answers that will bring Sal home.”
Lauren and Amy have since travelled to the US to help search for their sister.
Days before Sally disappeared
Contarino travelled from Melbourne to Nevada on June 13 and checked into the Bungalows Hostel on Las Vegas Boulevard on June 18, according to a report obtained by local Las Vegas network 8 News Now.
Days before she vanished, she was captured in a video filmed by an influencer wearing Meta glasses after he approached her outside a convenience store about 4pm on June 17.
The footage, recorded on Boulder Highway near Flamingo Road, showed the man complimenting Contarino and asking for her phone number.
“Hello. Sorry, I saw you. I just saw that you were very beautiful. I was wondering if I could get your number, by chance,” the man can be heard saying.
“I have a boyfriend,” she replied, before the brief conversation ended.
“Oh, okay, yeah, sorry. Are you waiting for him or…?” he said.
“No,” she said. “I’m just gonna have a cigarette…”
“Oh, okay, yeah, of course,” the man replied before he walked away.
It is not believed the interaction is connected to her disappearance.
A friend said Contarino checked out of the Bungalows Hostel on June 20 before hiking around Mount Charleston and Lone Mountain in Nevada.
According to the report, she later messaged a male friend saying she was heading to Lone Mountain for a hike, although it was unclear whether she was with another person.
Lauren has since said on the online forum that her sister knew the area well and had completed the “routine, mundane” hike many times before.
She also said Australian immigration authorities confirmed Contarino had not returned home and that her sister had never used dating apps.
Search continues
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police released CCTV showing Contarino at a block of shops on Skye Canyon Drive shortly after 1pm on June 20 — the last confirmed sighting of the Melbourne woman.
She was wearing shorts, a hoodie and Converse sneakers, and carrying a handbag.
LVMPD previously said Contarino “might possibly be in severe emotional distress and in need of medical assistance”.
Staff at the hostel where Contarino had been staying told an investigating consular officer she had checked out on the Saturday morning, using the self-service checkout option rather than at a front desk.
Days before she went missing, Contarino ate at Timbers Bar & Grill where staff remembered her as quiet and happy, according to The Sun.
Contarino had booked a ticket on a Greyhound bus bound for Los Angeles — from where her scheduled flight home was departing — but investigators say that ticket was never scanned.
The search and investigation remain ongoing.
Anyone with information about Contarino’s whereabouts is urged to contact the LVMPD.
SOURCE: https://7news.com.au/news/fresh-plea-as-us-search-for-missing-melbourne-woman-sally-contarino-nears-one-month-mark-c-22588524
