Florida vet, mother of 2 missing after telling dad she's afraid of her ex, family says
Missing Rachel Schwartz described as 5 feet, 2 inches tall with blue eyes, blonde hair
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A Florida mother of two who served in the Army in Iraq has gone missing after telling her father she had fears about her ex-boyfriend, according to the family.
Rachel Schwartz, 33, suffers from PTSD and other stress-related illness, according to her brother-in-law, Benjamin Schrupp.
Her last known location was in Spring Hill, about 50 miles north of Tampa, he said.
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Schwartz's family has not had contact with her since Jan. 31, when she last spoke with her father, he said. Her sister is raising awareness on Facebook. Relatives, including the father of her children, who is not the same ex, filed a missing person report with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.
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"My sister has been missing as of Jan. 31," Schwartz's sister, Elizabeth Schrupp, wrote in a Facebook post. "She was supposed to fly home Feb. 4. Her last message to my dad was that she wanted to come home, and she was afraid of her ex."
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After that, her phone and social media accounts "went silent," Schrupp added.
Schwartz had a rocky on-and-off relationship with an ex-boyfriend named John Scorah, according to her brother-in-law, and had recently told her father that she was afraid of him.
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Court records show that police charged Scorah with battery in April 2022. Schwartz posted his bond, and prosecutors dropped the case in October.
But Schwartz decided to move back to her home state of Minnesota to get away from him, Schrupp said. And he provided screenshots of text messages he said were exchanged between her and a friend last year that showed her concerns about her safety and discussing an order of protection.
In early January, however, she returned to Florida to visit her two sons, who live with their father, he said.
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At some point during the Florida trip, she visited Scorah at his home in Wimauma, Schrupp said. Ring camera video shows she left the house carrying luggage at 5:46 p.m. on Jan. 31.
Scorah did not immediately respond to calls or messages from Fox News Digital.
Her last known location after that was at a home in Spring Hill where the owner is known to rent out rooms to veterans in crisis. However, where she went from there remains unclear.
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"She's missing," Schrupp told Fox News Digital Monday. "We want her to know that we love her and we care about her."
A sheriff's office spokeswoman confirmed that deputies had an active missing person case but said there was not much else she was authorized to share.
Schwartz is described as 5 feet, 2 inches tall with blue eyes and blonde hair and weighing around 100 pounds. She has visible freckles when not wearing makeup, often wears hats or big sunglasses and may wear her hair in a military braid.
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She was last seen wearing blue pants, a white sleeveless shirt and carrying a large black suitcase and an orange and black carry-on bag.
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Anyone with information is asked to call the Hernando County Sheriff's Office at 352-754-6830.