A 32-year-old woman remains missing after her family said she got out of a moving car and vanished nearly a week ago on Long Island, New York.
The Nassau County Police Department is searching for Brittany Kritis-Garip, who went missing in Oyster Bay around 8:00 p.m. on Friday, March 20, according to a Tuesday, March 23, police news release.
Kritis-Garip disappeared “on foot” while wearing black pants and a black coat with a “fur collar,” police said.
“We believe she was disoriented and frightened, and may think she is in danger,” a family friend, Sarah Castor, wrote in a GoFundMe page established to support search efforts for Kritis-Garip. “She is not dangerous — she needs help.”
Kritis-Garip had been inside a relative’s car moments before she went missing on March 20, according to her family, Patch.com reported.
Her brother, Niko Kritis, told the outlet that his sister “hopped out unexpectedly after pulling forward after a stop sign.”
“We are still actively pulling together the videos of the path she ran,” Niko added, speaking to Patch.com.
Kritis-Garip’s sister-in-law, Jess Kritis, told the outlet that Kritis-Garip had gotten rid of her phone, and that her wallet was located along Florence Avenue in Oyster Bay.
Jess told Patch.com that Kritis-Garip “thinks she’s being tracked and in danger,” and that is why “she ditched her phone.”
Kritis-Garip is described as 5-foot-7, about 140 pounds, and Caucasian with brown hair and eyes, according to the GoFundMe page.
The page says the family wants to hire a licensed private investigator to look for Kritis-Garip while law enforcement continues to search for her.
While speaking with News 12 Long Island on Sunday, March 22, Kritis-Garip’s husband, Fernando Garip, described his wife as being “panicked” before she left a family member’s car.
“We’ve been combing wooded areas, rural areas, suburban areas, everything. So we’re just asking for the public’s help here. We really need the public’s help to locate her,” he told the news outlet. “We’re going to be at this until she’s home. I don’t care what we have to do, what needs to be done.”
A Facebook page titled The Search for Brittany Kritis-Garip has been created to share updates on her disappearance.
“I want to take a moment to thank every single person who has shown up, shared posts, checked their cameras, donated to our GoFundMe, or simply kept Brittany in their thoughts,” Niko wrote in a Wednesday, March 25, post on the page.
“We are still actively searching and following leads, and your continued support means so much,” Niko added.
The Nassau County Police Department is asking anyone with information on Kritis-Garip’s whereabouts to call the agency’s Missing Persons Squad at (516) 573-7347 or 911.
