
Police in North Carolina were told last month that a woman and her fiancée went missing on the same night that a high-speed crash had been reported, but the couple’s bodies and the car were not discovered at the scene of the reported wreck until more than two weeks later.
Family and friends are wondering why.
The newly-engaged couple, Paige Escalera, 25, and Stephanie Mayorga, 27, were last seen on April 15, according to Wilmington Police. Their roommate, under the impression that she had to wait 72 hours to report the women missing, called police about their disappearance on April 19.
At the time, authorities said that the two disappeared under “suspicious” circumstances. "They had also ordered food, which was discovered outside their door the following morning. All signs seemed to indicate the couple intended to return home that night," according to a statement issued by interim Police Chief Donny Williams last week.
Investigators searched "broad areas of interest" for Escalera's grey 2013 Dodge Dart, police said. It was finally found less than seven miles from the women's apartment and more than two weeks after they were reported missing after police uncovered a 911 call about a high-speed crash from the night the women disappeared.
Two bodies were found inside, and last week Williams announced that using dental records and visible tattoos, a medical examiner had identified Mayorga as the driver and Escalera as the passenger.
"My biggest concern is why they didn’t conduct a reasonable search that night," Escalera's sister Stevie Jenkins told NBC News. "I feel like all the clues to find them were handed to them and they just brushed it off because they 'didn’t see anything,' as they reported."
Local news site Port City Daily obtained the April 15th 911 call about the crash.
The caller told police: “I just saw a car driving so fast and smash into the wall … Wow … Listen, this is like really serious. … This is a serious injury. … This is serious. … There’s a stop sign over here and he didn’t stop. … There’s a stop sign and he drives very fast, and I’m sure, I saw it with my mirror. … I saw in my glass mirror the car like disappear inside the tree. … I’m sure what I saw."
Wilmington Police, emergency medical services, and fire crews responded and talked with the caller, who remained on the scene to help, but officers left in under 10 minutes, police said.














