Who is Rachel Schwartz, the veteran and mother who vanished in Florida before being found ‘safe’?

‘Her last message to my dad was that she wanted to come home and she was afraid of her ex,’ sister says before mother found ‘safe’

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 footage captured by a video doorbell as she was leaving her former boyfriend’s home in Wimauma, Hillsborough County at 5.46pm 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.

Supposed to fly back to Minnesota

Elizabeth Schrupp, the sister of the missing 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 about an ex-boyfriend.

She reportedly travelled to Florida to visit her two children who she shares with a different man. However, it remains unclear why she made a pitstop at the other ex-boyfriend’s house.

The doorbell footage showed her walking away from her ex-boyfriend’s home with a suitcase and another bag.

Rocky relationship with former boyfriend

According to Ms Schwartz’s family, she has had a rocky relationship with a 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.

Another man, the father of Ms Schwartz’s children, filed a missing persons report in Hernando County.

Rachel Schwartz (Screengrab/ Elizabeth Schrupp)

“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.”

PTSD and struggles with other issues relating to stress

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.

The 33-year-old has PTSD and struggles with other issues relating to stress, her brother-in-law Benjamin Schrupp said previously, according to Fox.

“I’m creating this post to create some noise,” Ms Schrupp wrote on Facebook on 10 February – four days before the announcement of Ms Schwartz being located. “My sister has been missing as of January 31st. She was supposed to fly home Feb 4th. Her last message to my dad was that she wanted to come home and she was afraid of her ex.”

“The same day her phone and social media account went silent. We’ve contacted the Hernando county police department in Florida. We are working with our local police department to get a local agency assist report in Florida since they will not report her missing,” she added at the time.

The Independent has reached out to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office for comment.