An Anchorage woman who vanished last week was deep in debt and had her car repossessed the day after her home burned in a fire, police said Wednesday.
Police now say it's unlikely the missing woman, Susan Geraci, is the victim of foul play.
Geraci, 45, was last seen leaving her East Anchorage mobile home in a red Hyundai Accent on June 6, police said. She failed to show up for work that day, which was uncharacteristic, her boss said. Fire leveled Geraci's porch and gutted her home early the morning of June 7, police said.
A tow company repossessed her car June 8 and returned it to the credit union which loaned her money to buy it, said Officer Arthur Anderson, assigned to Geraci's disappearance.
Police spokeswoman Anita Shell said Geraci appeared to have been in contact with the credit union, AlaskaUSA, the day of the repo. When asked if that meant contact by phone, Shell said only that Geraci had been "communicating" with the credit union.
"She had some outstanding debt," Shell said.
Officer Anderson said he didn't know if Geraci was present during the repossession or if she signed any paperwork. Repossessors at the credit union had asked for the car, and it looked as if Geraci was directly involved in returning it to them, Anderson said.
"What I hear from the tow company is that it was a voluntary repossession," Anderson said. "In a roundabout way, she did return it."
Anderson declined to say how the repossession came to light. Police spokeswoman Anita Shell announced the car's discovery in a written statement to reporters Wednesday. She said Geraci probably was not the victim of foul play.
''We don't have any indication that there was a third party involved. We fear that she's more of a threat to herself," Shell said. "The return of the car kind of indicates that. We don't think somebody was involved in something like a kidnapping. She returned the car. It wasn't like she was forced."
Shell said Geraci has a boyfriend who lives in Texas and works on the North Slope. He's accounted for, but Geraci was not as of midday Wednesday, the police spokeswoman said.
Geraci owed money to other financial institutions and the Internal Revenue Service, Shell said. She had also been sad recently over two dogs she had put down, Shell said.
Geraci is described as 5 feet, 4 inches tall, 120 pounds with brown hair and eyes. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call police at 786-8900.
Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.
By CASEY GROVE
Anchorage Daily News