WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. -- A large-scale search for a Scarsdale woman missing in Panama ended Sunday when officials found her body on Bastimento Island, according to multiple sources. 
 
 The body of Catherine Johannet, who was last seen around 10 a.m.Thursday on Isla Colon was discovered on an island trail Sunday afternoon, officials said. 
 
 A cause of death has yet to be released. 
 
 Johannet, 23, who had been staying at Bocas del Toro, was reported missing by her friends, who also hung posters across the area in hopes of finding her, said Newsroom Panama. 
 
 The widespread search involved volunteers and agents of the National Police, the National Civil Protection Agency, and the Bocas del Toro Fire Department. 
 
 Johannet was reportedly heading to Red Frog Beach and had planned to return in the afternoon, said Newsroom Panama. 
 
 She had been staying in a hostel on Bocas del Toro, where her belongings were found. 
 
 Her family is reportedly on the way to Panama. 
 
 Check back to Daily Voice for updates. 
 
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 MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Authorities in Costa Rica have found a body Monday in the area where a South Florida woman had gone missing. 
 
 Costa Rica Judicial Investigative Office spokesperson Marisel Rodriguez tells CBS News that a body has been found partially buried and inside plastic in the area where Miami resident Carla Stefaniak was staying outside of San Jose, Costa Rica. 
 
 Authorities have not identified the body yet and are in contact with Stefaniak’s family who are in Costa Rica in an effort to make an identification. 
 
 One of Stefaniak’s brothers, Mario Caicedo, said he is remaining positive that the body discovered is not his sister. 
 
 “Sincerely, I didn’t feel bad or scared because I have so much positivity and so much faith that it’s not my sister,” Mario said. “We’re just waiting for the confirmation that it isn’t her from the authorities.” 
 
 He has a message for Carla. 
 
 “Come home,” he said, as his eyes welled up. “I miss her. I want to have her close to me. We’re all waiting for her.” 
 
 Earlier story follows: 
 
 The family of a South Florida woman who disappeared during a vacation in Central America is desperately trying to find her. 
 
 Carla Stefaniak, who lives near Miami, went to Costa Rica to celebrate her 36th birthday. Her family says they haven’t heard from her since the night before she was set to return home. The was nearly a week ago. 
 
 During the trip Stefaniak was all smiles, posting multiple videos and photos on social media as she and her sister-in-law April Burton spent a week-long vacation in Costa Rica. 
 
 “It seemed so safe when we were there, everything was great,” said Burton. 
 
 Because of a prior commitment, Burton left Costa Rica on November 27th – the day before Stefaniak was scheduled to fly home. 
 
 Now on her own, Stefaniak took an Uber to her Airbnb and then had her driver give her a tour of San Jose. After returning around 5 p.m., She told a friend it was “raining crazy” and the power was out. She added that “it’s pretty sketchy here.” 
 
 Around 9 p.m. that night, all communication stopped which was highly unusual, according to her brother Carlos Caicedo, who is now assisting in search efforts in Costa Rica. 
 
 “It was her birthday and she loves to be on social media. So I’m guessing every single app that there is that you can communicate, I’m sure she was on it,” he said. 
 
 Caicedo said according to the owner of the Airbnb, a security guard saw his sister get into a car with her bags at 5 a.m. the next morning. 
 
 “Which makes no sense because her flight was at 1:30 p.m. and she was only 20 to 30 minutes away from the airport and she is never early for anything,” said Burton. 
 
 Adding to the mystery, the family said Stefaniak had checked-in online for her flight and ordered an Uber to pick her up later that morning. 
 
 Airbnb had no comment and Uber said it will assist in the investigation. 
 
 Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s office has reached out to assist the family. ||||| WESTBURY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A man sought for questioning in the killing of a university nursing student from Long Island has been detained in Nicaragua, authorities in the Central American nation said Tuesday. 
 
 Orlando Tercero, 22, was taken into custody in in Nicaragua after taking a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was being handed over to judicial authorities, National Police Commissioner Francisco Diaz said. 
 
 “Together, our priority is to bring justice to all involved parties,” said Broome County District Attorney Stephen Cornwell, Jr. 
 
 Police in New York say Tercero is a person of interest in the killing of 22-year-old Haley Anderson of Westbury. A warrant is being prepared, Cornwell said. 
 
 A nursing student and senior at Binghamton University, Anderson’s life was cut short. She was discovered murdered Friday at a home near campus. 
 
 The Westbury native was close to graduation. 
 
 “She was in her senior year. This year, she did an internship at a hospital here on Long Island and she told me about all the operations that she witnessed,” said neighbor John Doran. “Tragic loss.” 
 
 Binghamton police quickly classified the case as a homicide and identified Tercero, a romantic partner and fellow student, as a person of interest. 
 
 As crime scene investigators processed the evidence, detectives say he was on a flight from JFK Airport to Nicaragua. The National Police Force detained him Tuesday. 
 
 Anderson’s death was a tragic blow to her family in Westbury and her former coworkers at Ralphs Italian Ices. 
 
 “She was such a bubbly person, opened up to anyone,” said co-worker Emma Derbin. “She was literally like the greatest person ever. She never didn’t have a smile on her face.” 
 
 Nicaraguan police say Tercero was in possession of a Nicaragua passport when he was arrested. It is believed he has dual citizenship, CBS2’s Magdalena Doris reported. 
 
 All of the evidence in the case will be presented to a grand jury. If Tercero is indicted, the district attorney will push for a speedy extradition. 
 
 A wake and funeral for Anderson will be held for this weekend in her hometown. 
 
 (© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) ||||| This article is over 4 years old 
 
 David Miller, 24, from Jersey, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth, found dead on island of Koh Tao 
 
 Two young British tourists who met while backpacking have been murdered after partying on a beach at a popular island resort in southern Thailand. 
 
 David Miller, 24, from Jersey, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth, were found half-naked with several deep wounds to their bodies near a beachside bungalow on the island of Koh Tao, Thai police said. 
 
 A nationwide manhunt was reportedly under way for a third British backpacker whom police suspect of carrying out the attack before fleeing the island. 
 
 A local police official told reporters that the pair had been murdered with a garden hoe found nearby on the island, which is popular for its serene beaches and diving sites. 
 
 Locals were reported to have blockaded Koh Tao's only pier to prevent the killer escaping. According to the Daily Telegraph, however, the local police chief, Colonel Songsak, said a British man who may have known Miller had left the island. 
 
 thailand WEB 1609 
 
 Police Colonel Prachum Ruangthong said the male victim had sustained extensive injuries to his head and the woman had injuries to her face. 
 
 Investigators were checking CCTV from local bars and restaurants, and appealing for witnesses. 
 
 Ruangthong said a bloodied garden hoe used in the "gruesome" attack and bloodstained clothes were found near the bodies. 
 
 Another local police chief said the pair were believed to have travelled separately to Koh Tao, a popular island for backpackers in Surat Thani province, and met while staying at the same budget hotel beside the beach. 
 
 CCTV showed they went to the same bar and left together at 1am on Monday, said Major General Kiattipong Khawsamang. Local media reports said there had been a beach party for about 50 people, mainly tourists, on Sunday night that continued into Monday morning. 
 
 Witheridge is believed to have been travelling with three other friends while Miller is thought to have arrived on the holiday resort island with two others. 
 
 Local police official Jakkrapan Kaewkhao said the two travellers had arrived in Thailand separately on 25 August. "Their bodies were found 30 metres from the bungalow," he said. 
 
 An employee at the seaside resort where the pair had been staying told AFP that the bodies were found behind large rocks on the beach. 
 
 "It was the first time this has happened on the island, I have never seen anything like this," the staff member added, requesting anonymity. 
 
 The Foreign Office said: "We are aware of the death of two British nationals on 15 September on the island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand. The embassy is urgently seeking information from the local authorities and stands ready to provide consular assistance." 
 
 The mountainous island of Koh Tao, which is described on tourism websites as "an island of adventure action sports" and a place of "peace and tranquility", is popular with tourists but draws fewer travellers than the neighbouring island of Koh Phangan with its well-known full moon parties. 
 
 The double murder came the day before the half moon party, a similar event that attracts tens of thousands of people each month. 
 
 Thailand's lucrative tourism industry has been battered in recent months after a prolonged political crisis ended in a coup that saw the army suspend the constitution and impose a curfew and strict martial law on the country. 
 
 Although the curfew was swiftly lifted from tourist hotspots, visitor numbers have not recovered. 
 
 Thailand's military leaders have promised to clean up the kingdom's tourist resorts after complaints of scams, assaults and police extortion.
– "I found paradise and it's called Isla Ina," wrote Catherine Johannet on Jan. 28 on Instagram of an island off Panama's coast. It would be the 23-year-old's final post. The 2015 Columbia University grad was found dead Sunday afternoon on the country's Bastimentos Island. Now the New York Daily News cites Panama's La Prensa in reporting an initial autopsy suggests she was strangled. The Edgemont, New York, native was last seen Thursday morning. The Briarcliff Daily Voice reports she had planned to leave Colon Island, where she was staying, to go to Red Frog Beach on Bastimentos for the day; authorities were alerted when she didn't return to her hostel, and her body was found by a police officer days later in a wooded area near Bastimentos' shore. The Daily News calls Johannet a "globetrotting Scarsdale woman," and her brother Paul elaborates on that in a Facebook post. "She was a world traveler—by the age of 23, she had already visited 6 continents and innumerable countries, including a recent 18-month trip to Vietnam where she taught English Literature to local students." Panamanian investigators, in concert with the FBI, on Tuesday conducted raids on the area as part of their investigation, though no details have been given regarding them or whether there are any suspects. Adds brother Paul, "She was cheerful, adventurous, thoughtful and warm—all qualities I strive towards. I'll always look up to my youngest sister." (A teen confessed on Monday to killing an American tourist in London.)