Woman Who Complained of Stalker Now Missing

Police searched Wednesday for a missing Lake Forest woman who had told her husband she was being stalked at Cal State Long Beach, where she is a student.

Kristine Chieko Arabaca, 26, was last seen about 10 a.m. Monday when she dropped off her year-old son at a baby-sitter’s house in Artesia on her way to a 12:30 p.m. class, police said.

“This is very unusual,” said Tom Dominguez, an investigator for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. “Kristine is very reliable with very close family ties. She is never late for anything and always lets everyone know where she is.”

Dominguez said investigators are still trying to find out whether the woman attended her class on Monday. They have determined that she missed an important test Tuesday morning.

Her mother, Yoko Murata, said the family is frantic with worry. “I just hope she’s safe,” she said. “I’m trying to be optimistic, hoping that nothing is wrong, but why isn’t she calling us?”

Her father, Henry Murata, said at a hastily called news conference Wednesday night, “The situation is out of our hands. I just have to pray to God” that she is all right.

Arabaca, who is Japanese American, 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 105 pounds, is a business major at Cal State Long Beach. She lives with her husband’s family in Lake Forest. When she did not return from the Long Beach campus, her father-in-law, Pat Arabaca, notified campus police, who conducted an unsuccessful search and then notified the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities said they are particularly concerned in light of a statement Arabaca recently made to her husband, who is in the Navy and is stationed in Norfolk, Va. She told him she was being stalked on campus by an older white man.

“We are taking this very seriously,” said Steve Doan, a sheriff’s spokesman. Orange County authorities are working with campus police, he said, to compile a list of the woman’s classmates so that investigators can interview them. They are also searching for her car, a 1993 gray Nissan Maxima with California license plate 3DEM181.

Sheriff’s investigators asked that anyone with information about Arabaca call them at (714) 628-7170.