Héctor Sánchez Castañeda
News Editor
Angela Karmis, a University of California, Santa Barbara adjunct professor has been found safe at a Pasadena hospital, a friend said. Karmis was reported missing after she failed to arrive at her friend’s apartment on Friday, according to a Facebook post on her timeline.
Detectives spoke with Karmis over the phone on Wednesday and determined she was safe and not a victim of a crime, according to a press release.
Karmis was last seen on the 1500 block of West Valerio Street on Friday at approximately 8:45 p.m. wearing a white and blue striped dress with tan sandals, according to Santa Barbara Police Department Sergeant Riley Harwood.
She was headed to San Andres Street and Micheltorena Street, according to the Facebook event created to search for her. Friends and colleagues dispersed fliers around that intersection on Tuesday.
Justin Steinfadt, Karmis’ friend, filed the missing person report on Sunday after he was unable to contact her on Saturday.
Karmis is known for co-hosting the KCSB show “Love Letters from the Submind.” She was reportedly in the radio station’s offices on Friday, according to KCSB News and Public Affairs Director Lisa Osborn.
Karmis, an openly transgender woman, has been a member of the local LGBT+ community. Her participation with KCSB revolves around topics in the transgender community.
On May 30, Karmis shared a GoFundMe on her Twitter asking for help to prevent her bank account from closing. In the description, Karmis wrote she was homeless and jobless at the time. According to Steinfadt, she is not currently employed by UCSB. The university has not released any information about Karmis’ situation. Steinfadt said it was unclear how Karmis got to the hospital.
Karmis is listed as faculty in UCSB’s College of Creative Studies’ website. As of press time, CCS has not responded to inquiries about her faculty status.
“We are all happy at the outpouring of help and support we received from the community,” Steinfadt said to The Bottom Line. “We’re certain Angela appreciates it as well.”
Privacy statutes prevent authorities from releasing any additional information, according to the SBPD.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Detective Michael Claytor at 805-897-2340.
UPDATES:
July 20, 9:30 a.m.: This article has been updated with Steinfadt’s comments and information that Karmis was found.
July 20, 7:45 p.m.: Information from a press release by the SBPD was added.
This article was originally published at 10:06 p.m.