they don't e-mail everybody and tell them we're leaving. > a lot of people say, let's go to argentina for six weeks. the former antique dealer was so quiet that no one even noticed when he took off. > bo kept a low profile since moving to bocas from santa fe, new mexico in 2004. > reporter: the terrible realization sank in - cher > reporter: after two months, it was staring everyone in the face - the unanswered phone calls, the strange messages, the missed birthday - all the clues pointing to a horrible conclusion. so something had happened to cher, for sure. and she would never, ever miss his birthday. cher didn't call her father on his birthday. and so i had a hard time shouting into the darkness of the embassy saying "help me, help me." > reporter: things got worse. and if she wants to be found, she will contact you. > the embassy - made a big point of saying people disappear all the time. cher's aunt mary called the us embassy in panama, and begged for help. > reporter: and then, the text messages simply stopped. so, it was just - i said it was just - it just changed. and she'd always write a-r-e, and this would be an r for "are" or "2," the number, would be > instead of small letters, it'd be all capitals. they weren't written in cher's usual style.
she didn't run away."' > reporter: but keith noticed something strange about the messages. > i called her best friend, and said "did cher meet somebody? does she have a man that i don't know about? is there something going on?" she said "she's never mentioned any guy to me ever. > reporter: a mystery man? keith wanted to get to the bottom of it. > and she was running away with that person? > yeah. > she said she had met someone else? > yes. > she just said i met somebody else who's better than you, yeah. then another text message - this one from cher to keith. a few days passed, and cher didn't return.
> reporter: the messages were reassuring, but not for long. > it wouldn't have surprised me that, "oh mary, i went sailing and then my phone fell off the deck when i dropped my purse." that would be cher - for three to four days. > so, maybe - > but - > she just got on a boat with some new friend that you didn't know about and she'd be back in a week. > she had an opportunity, she'd- she'd go.
DATELINE THE MAN WHO WASN T THERE FREE
> she's a free spirit, right? she's- > oh. cher's friends received a text message from her - saying she'd gone sailing. like, dang it cher, what are you doing? > reporter: and then some good news. what - where did she go? how - why would she not call me?" and we got a little aggravated with her. doggone it, we - she - she always calls me. > "where's cher?" and they're going, "i don't know. and you know, lost her phone, and we're like, "well, ok, maybe." > reporter: mary logged on to cher's facebook page and reached out to those friends. > we immediately started calling her friends and everyone going, "what's going on?" and everyone was saying "you know cher. > reporter: cher's aunt mary started phoning cher's friends in panama. leave her cherished island with all of her belongings still here. but cher's friends and family said it wouldn't be like her to leave so abruptly. after all, the easy-going lifestyle is part of the > it's not unusual for people to come and go around here. and she was just ready for a little break of bocas. cause it was such a small community and - > she was getting a little tired of it? > yeah, you just keep bumping into the same people, having to tell the same story. > she told me she wanted to have an apartment in panama city and just spend some time in the city and get out of bocas. a place where she could blend into the scenery more easily, and wrap her head around their breakup. cher had been talking about spending time in panama city. > reporter: when cher's husband keith realized she'd left town, he was surprised. and it's, like, "cher, where are you?" people who were in panama, in bocas, "haven't seen you around town, where you at, gimme a call." and we started wondering. > leaving messages? > texting, facebooking. reporter: on the exotic coast of panama, cher hughes had been living out the dream of owning her own island.
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