Woman May Have Fled to Avoid Marriage

A missing Vista woman might have traveled to Philadelphia to avoid a prearranged marriage, homicide investigators said Thursday.

Phuong Bich Giap, 24, was last seen by one of her three brothers last Friday night before she left for work in San Marcos. Her car was later found parked, locked and with a flat tire on Las Posas Road in San Marcos.

Giap’s family suspected either foul play or that Giap had run to avoid the marriage, scheduled for July 1.

As a result of media coverage of Giap’s disappearance, a North County taxi driver contacted the Sheriff’s Department and said he had driven a woman who fit Giap’s description from the North County Transit Center to Lindbergh Field on Saturday night, said Lt. John Tenwolde of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

After being shown pictures of Giap, the taxi driver said he was “nearly certain” that she was the woman he had transported, Tenwolde said, adding that when investigators examined airline roster sheets, they found that someone by the name of Bich Giap had purchased a ticket from San Diego to Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Giap’s 12-year-old brother, Hieu Giap, said Thursday that his sister has a friend in Philadelphia, and he speculated that she may have traveled there to avoid the impending marriage.

The prearranged marriage has been canceled, and the family hopes that when Giap finds that out she will return to San Diego, her brother said.

Attempts to contact Giap’s friends in Philadelphia have been unsuccessful, Tenwolde said, adding that the investigation will continue until the Sheriff’s Department is certain of her whereabouts.