Florida mother and Iraq war veteran found ‘safe’ after disappearing after she sent ‘concerned message to father’

‘We want her to know that we love her and we care about her,’ family says ahead of ‘found safe’ announcement

An army veteran who had been missing for over two weeks after she went to visit her children in Florida has been found safe.

Rachel Schwartz, a 33-year-old mother of two who served in Iraq, was last seen in a Ring Camera leaving her former boyfriend John Scorah’s home in Wimauma, Hillsborough County on 31 January.

The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said on Tuesday night that “the missing person has been recovered and is safe,” according to Fox News.

After leaving the home of Mr Scorah, she then checked in to a veteran crisis centre in Spring Hill, Fox News reported. Since then, the veteran was untraceable, her family said.

On Tuesday, before the announcement from the Sheriff’s Office, Mr Scorah told Fox that he was “not interested” and ended the call.

Elizabeth Schrupp, the sister of the mother, said in a Facebook post that Ms Schwartz was supposed to fly back to Minnesota on 4 February. Ms Schrupp said her sister’s phone and social media went silent after she allegedly sent a message to her father expressing concerns.

She reportedly travelled to Florida to visit her two children, whom she shares with a different man. However, it remains unclear why she made a pit stop at Mr Scorah’s house.

The Ring Cam footage showed the woman walking away from the former boyfriend’s house with a suitcase and another bag.

According to Ms Schwartz’s family, she has had a rocky relationship with her former boyfriend, who was arrested on charges of battery in April 2022. Ms Schwartz reportedly posted his bond and the charges were later dropped in October.

Following the incident, she decided to move back to her home state of Minnesota, the family said.

The father of Ms Schwartz’s children filed a missing persons report in Hernando County.

“She’s missing,” Ms Schrupp told Fox News Digital before she was found. “We want her to know that we love her and we care about her.”

In an earlier Facebook post, Ms Schrupp added: “Police have conducted welfare checks on her ex-boyfriend’s home- one with no answer and one after she had been missing for almost a week.”

During the search effort, Ms Schwartz was described as having a height of 5ft 2 inches, with blue eyes and blonde hair. She was last spotted wearing blue pants, a white sleeveless shirt, and carrying a black suitcase along with a smaller black and orange bag.