Strange Clue: A mysterious watch linked to missing ER nurse Angelica Brophy is raising new questions as friends analyze her final messages 17 days after she vanished
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.
Brophy’s 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 friend’s whereabouts remain unknown.
“It’s haunting and awful and all consuming,” Seitz told The U.S. Sun.
“And 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, ‘Are we still doing this?’
“‘Are we still going here?’ Are we literally going to go to a Padres game and sit next to an empty seat. Like what are we doing?”
As law enforcement search for clues as to where the missing nurse could be, Seitz and her group of friends visited Brophy’s 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 nurse’s Apple Watch.
“We were able to find that her Apple Watch had last pinged at a trailhead near this pond,” Seitz said.
“And so, then myself and Elena and two of the girls of the group had been in contact with her husband.
“Just trying to brainstorm where we should be looking for her. When we found that it had pinged there, [Brent] asked us if we’d ever been hiking there, and Elena was like, yeah, we have been hiking there.”
The group sprang into action and called Brophy’s brother who was in the Palomar Mountain State Park area with law enforcement.
There, authorities located Brophy’s abandoned gray Hyundai Kona at the state park’s Doane Pond parking lot.
Seitz recollected the painful drive to Palomar Mountain State Park when she learned Brophy’s car had been located.
“It’s surreal. I was going to drive myself and my husband said, I think I should drive just because I don’t know how this is going to be for you,” she said.
“It’s beautiful up there. So that part was also distracting as you’re driving up with this beautiful scenery, but not knowing what you’re going to find.
“We got there lots of nervous energy. It’s such a pendulum of emotions that I’ve never experienced. I can be laughing about something and then sobbing hysterically.”
Inside Brophy’s 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 photos of Brophy’s Hydro Flask inside her vehicle, saying the tight-knit group of friends all have the same tumbler.
“Seeing 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,” Seitz told The U.S. Sun as she let out a deep sigh.
“She did have her purse, phone, wallet, passport in her car. I think that’s unusual to leave everything, but it wasn’t unusual for her to carry all of those items.”
Seitz questioned why her close friend had her passport with her on the day she disappeared.
“I know there was a bunch of clothes in the car, but that was like a sisterhood of the traveling clothes that we have,” she added.
“We all just go through our closets and pass things down to each other. But, that water bottle is hard because it’s everywhere.”
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.
“Angelica and I go line dancing frequently. I had last seen her in person the Friday before. And our shifts don’t line up all the time, but we talk frequently,” Seitz said.
“And the night before she went missing, she sent our TacoBella friend group a text just expressing her gratitude for our friendship, which is something that we do all the time.
“It’s how we talk with each other. We are like each other’s rock and I might text them, Oh my gosh, the kids are really getting on me today.
“But 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 can’t help but now be like, oh gosh, was this a clue?
“Everything feels like a clue now. I don’t know what I know anymore because I’m just so baffled by her disappearance and pleading for answers.”
Seitz said she and her TacoBellas group remain hopeful that they can find their missing friend and bring her home.
“As this has gone on, I feel like sometimes I come off as numb to this whole situation,” she said.
“But one, I’m a professional compartmentalizer and two I have cried about this so much that it’s just so perplexing and frustrating and devastating and every emotion you’ve ever experienced in your life and then new ones too.
“It’s 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.”
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.
