A BRITISH tourist who vanished in San Fransisco after she was last seen meeting a mystery man at the airport has been found.
Katherine Esther Gamboa Kerwood, 21, flew to California for a week-long sightseeing trip but sparked alarm when her family discovered she never checked into the hostel where she claimed to be staying.
Her disappearance sparked an international search with reports reaching both the San Francisco Police Department and authorities in the UK.
But in a sudden twist, her dad confirmed she has now been located.
Victor Gamboa told The Sun: “We are relieved to inform you that Katherine has been found safe.”
The circumstances surrounding her disappearance, however, remain unclear.
Kerwood, believed to be from Portsmouth, had flown to California on March 31 and planned to travel between Sacramento, Calaveras Big Trees State Park, San Francisco and Santa Cruz.
Concern began to mount after the last message her loved ones received from her was a text on Friday.
When family members asked to speak to her on the phone, she abruptly stopped responding altogether.
Relatives discovered that Kerwood never checked into the Sacramento hostel where she claimed she would be staying.
A family friend said her silence had been completely out of character.
Ali Zaidi told KTVU: “She’s generally very responsive and the fact that she didn’t message for hours is the first signal.
“Second, when she messaged they said, ‘Hey, let’s get on the phone,’ and immediately she didn’t respond.”
Security camera footage from San Francisco International Airport added another eerie twist.
Her father revealed the footage appeared to show Kerwood meeting a man carrying a bouquet of flowers shortly after she arrived in the US.
The man, identified only as David, was someone Kerwood had previously met in the UK, according to her family.
Authorities had launched a search for the missing tourist and her details were entered into a statewide law enforcement database used to alert officers across California.
Her disappearance was also reported to police in the UK.
At the time she went missing, Kerwood had been due to fly back to London on Wednesday.
It is not yet known where she was found or what led to her sudden disappearance – or why she failed to contact her family for days.
The Sun has approached the Foreign Office for comment.
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