Breaking news: An unusual clue involving Angelica Brophyâs watch has emerged as friends examine her last texts and share growing fears 17 days into the search
THE friend of a missing emergency room nurse has revealed chilling details about the Apple Watch she was wearing at the time of her disappearance and where it last pinged.
The new information surrounding the disappearance of Angelica Brophy, 44, comes as law enforcement officials in Oceanside, California, north of San Diego, have paused the search for the missing mom of two.
Brophy, an ER nurse at a hospital in Southern California, was last seen on July 6.
She was spotted at the Harrah Casino that afternoon, and an hour later, she was seen alone in her car at Palomar Mountain State Park, about 15 miles north, at about 4:20pm.
Brophyâs husband, Brent, reported her missing after she never returned home and failed to report for her scheduled night shift at Kaiser San Marcos Hospital.
Ashley Seitz, a coworker of Brophy, has struggled to carry on with her life while her friendâs whereabouts remain unknown.
âItâs haunting and awful and all consuming,â Seitz told The U.S. Sun.
âAnd you know, I have to walk by her locker. Our group of friends, we have events coming up that we have to now talk about, like, âAre we still doing this?â
ââAre we still going here?â Are we literally going to go to a Padres game and sit next to an empty seat. Like what are we doing?â
As law enforcement search for clues as to where the missing nurse could be, Seitz and her group of friends visited Brophyâs house and found an old cellphone.
The group of friends, which Brophy is a part of and are affectionately referred to as the TacoBellas, were able to gain access to the unused device and locate the missing nurseâs Apple Watch.
âWe were able to find that her Apple Watch had last pinged at a trailhead near this pond,â Seitz said.
âAnd so, then myself and Elena and two of the girls of the group had been in contact with her husband.
âJust trying to brainstorm where we should be looking for her. When we found that it had pinged there, [Brent] asked us if weâd ever been hiking there, and Elena was like, yeah, we have been hiking there.â
The group sprang into action and called Brophyâs brother who was in the Palomar Mountain State Park area with law enforcement.
There, authorities located Brophyâs abandoned gray Hyundai Kona at the state parkâs Doane Pond parking lot.
Seitz recollected the painful drive to Palomar Mountain State Park when she learned Brophyâs car had been located.
âItâs surreal. I was going to drive myself and my husband said, I think I should drive just because I donât know how this is going to be for you,â she said.
âItâs beautiful up there. So that part was also distracting as youâre driving up with this beautiful scenery, but not knowing what youâre going to find.
âWe got there lots of nervous energy. Itâs such a pendulum of emotions that Iâve never experienced. I can be laughing about something and then sobbing hysterically.â
Inside Brophyâs vehicle, officials found her turquoise Hydro Flask mug was still in the cupholder, as well as clothing left on the driver seat, her wallet, and her cellphone, but there were no signs of the missing nurse.
Seitz recalled becoming emotional when she saw pHŕšĎos of Brophyâs Hydro Flask inside her vehicle, saying the ŃΚÔĐ˝Ń-knit group of friends all have the same tumbler.
âSeeing the image of the water bottle is really difficult for me because all five of us have that same water bottle and that is the one that we use at work,â Seitz told The U.S. Sun as she let out a deep sigh.
âShe did have her purse, phone, wallet, pá´ssport in her car. I think thatâs unusual to leave everything, but it wasnât unusual for her to carry all of those items.â
Seitz questioned why her close friend had her pá´ssport with her on the day she disappeared.
âI know there was a bunch of clothes in the car, but that was like a sisterhood of the traveling clothes that we have,â she added.
âWe all just go through our closets and pá´ss things down to each other. But, that water bottle is hard because itâs everywhere.â
But as law enforcement officials put the search effort for Brophy on pause, Seitz and her group of friends have refused to give up hope.
Seitz has since reviewed the final text messages she and her group of friends received from Brophy the night before she went missing.
âAngelica and I go line dancing frequently. I had last seen her in person the Friday before. And our shifts donât line up all the time, but we talk frequently,â Seitz said.
âAnd the night before she went missing, she sent our TacoBella friend group a text just expressing her graŃΚŃude for our friendship, which is something that we do all the time.
âItâs how we talk with each other. We are like each otherâs rock and I might text them, Oh my gosh, the kids are really getting on me today.
âBut when you look hindsight, when you look at it through a different lens, I mean, again, her text message is something like, we talk to each other all the time, but sure, I canât help but now be like, oh gosh, was this a clue?
âEverything feels like a clue now. I donât know what I know anymore because Iâm just so baffled by her disappearance and pleading for answers.â
Seitz said she and her TacoBellas group remain hopeful that they can find their missing friend and bring her home.
âAs this has gone on, I feel like sometimes I come off as numb to this whole situation,â she said.
âBut one, Iâm a professional compartmentalizer and two I have cried about this so much that itâs just so perplexing and frustrating and devastating and every emotion youâve ever experienced in your life and then new ones too.
âItâs just haunting. We just want to find her. We want to know where she is. We want to bring her home safe. We need answers.â
Oceanside Police Chief Taurino Valdovinos said investigators have not found evidence of foul play.
However, he stressed the investigation remains active until Brophy is found.