SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – The family of Paola Miranda Rosa, the missing Apopka woman, await results from a Sunday, Jan. 30, search at Wekiwa Springs state park to determine whether they should continue future searches there.
Andrea Miranda, Paola’s sister, and a team of almost 100 volunteers from multiple organizations, such as Peace River Search and Rescue and CERT Team of Florida and a Puerto Rican based foundation conducted the search in Wekiwa Springs State Park hoping to find answers to where her sister Paola Miranda Rosa is.
“We’re doing boots on ground and we’re dropping pins to find coordinates of every spot we searched to confirm we searched it all by foot,” Andrea said.
The state park is the last place Paola was seen on Dec. 18 the following day she was reported missing by Andrea after Paola never arrived to her home as planned.
Paola’s car was found abandoned at the state park’s Sand Lake parking lot with her keys, wallet and phone in it.
Osceola County Sheriff’s Office say hikers were at the state park the last time Paola was seen and filmed and sent them a video of her swimming in water near the Otter Camp.
The person who the filmed video chose to remain witness anonymous. Andrea said they hope to speak to them.
“We want to know the behaviors ,if they saw anybody else,” she said. “We want to know the environment that Paola was in, how she was behaving.
On Jan. 7, the Osceola County Sheriff’s deputies searched the area with underwater cameras but didn’t find anything.
It was another disappointment for the family, but this time they hope to learn more using a device operated by Peace River Search and Rescue.
“We’re using a tool that picks up DNA frequency that is able to confirm whether or not she’s here at the park, she said “They’re going to give us a specific percentage of whether she’s in or not in the park as of today.”
They also used search and rescue dogs and drones to help locate Paola and cover as much ground as possible. Andrea will receive the findings from the search in less than a week and those findings will determine whether they continue to search the state park or expand their search to other areas. Andrea said her sister would never abandon her family or her beloved pets and she was not depressed or unhappy during the time she went she missing.
She said the family not give up hope in finding her.
“We want to find you, we want to bring you home where you belong,” she said. “Hang in there. We miss you.”
The family said anyone with any information should contact them on their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/FindPaolaMiranda, or the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
Spectrum News 13 reached out to Osceola County Sheriff’s office to find out where its investigation on the case now stands, but we still haven’t heard back.
