INDIANAPOLIS — The Puerto Rico Police Bureau tells 13News 44-year-old Amanda Webster, from Indianapolis, has been missing since Oct. 11.
The bureau's missing persons department tells us she was last seen in Naguabo, a city on the east side of the island. It is some distance from the place where she was staying, but authorities could not say what time she left.
Police were alerted to the disappearance by the landlord of the home where she was staying after finding her bags and rental car at the home after she was supposed to have left.
An alert was issued by police there, asking citizens to join in the search for Webster. They're focused on a wooded area where she was spotted by another person. Cell phone video taken by Webster may show one of the last places she visited before disappearing.
"At this point, I just feel like she's still with us, but I'm not sure for how long," said Heather Clark, Webster's friend of three years.
Webster's friends say she landed in Puerto Rico on Monday and would send pictures and videos of herself on vacation to them. But come Wednesday, the only picture of Webster they'd see was on a flyer sent out by police after her Airbnb hosts reported her missing.
"She was really good about checking in and checking out, letting people know, especially when she's on her own, and she had told them she was going hiking there and she never came back," said Clark.
Back in Indianapolis, Webster's loved ones gathered at The Kile Oak in Irvington to light candles, hoping she'll make it back home.
"Amanda is amazingly resourceful and resilient and I feel like with the search parties that is looking for and is growing by the day, that she's going to be found," said her friend of 20 years, Sharon Rickson.
Like many of Webster's friends, Lisa Kirkwood remains optimistic, but also has her worries.
"I'm scared to death and don't like to let my mind go there, so, I'm definitely upset. Shaken. Scared," said Kirkwood.
But despite the unknown, Webster's friends are planning for her safe return.
"I'm going to give her the biggest hug that she has ever had, and me, her, and our other "panda" Lisa are going to go out for a pitcher of margaritas and we're also going to buy her an air tag, so next time she travels by herself we can keep track of her at all times," said Rickson.
Webster's friends say the FBI has gotten involved in the search.