Investigators\u00a0said the 35-year-old arrived in California\u2019s Central Coast with\u00a0her\u00a0boyfriend, \u00a062-year-old Axl\u00a0Nunez,\u00a0near the end of\u00a0October\u00a0and was staying in a camper van near the beach.<\/p>\n
Her belongings were later found on the beach, though there was no sign of her.\u00a0Though authorities said\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0no\u00a0indication\u00a0that she got in the ocean the night she disappeared, sheriff\u2019s investigators have repeatedly flown drones along the coastline looking for any sign of her.<\/p>\n
In an interview with\u00a0Utah television station\u00a0KSBW<\/a>, April Miller, Staley\u2019s mother, said her daughter and Nunez had an on-again, off-again\u00a0relationship\u00a0for about\u00a013 years. \u201cWe\u2019ve been concerned for years,\u201d she said\u00a0of the 62-year-old, describing him as \u201cextremely abusive\u201d moments\u00a0before Staley\u2019s brother chimed in and called him \u201cmanipulative.\u201d<\/p>\n Nunez has denied any part\u00a0in his girlfriend\u2019s disappearance and\u00a0says he has\u00a0offered to take a polygraph test.<\/p>\n Speaking with\u00a0KSBW<\/a>, the 62-year-old said he did not attend the beach bonfire because\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0asthmatic, but instead fell asleep in the van during the festivities.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I woke up, she wasn\u2019t there, so I\u2019m saying there\u2019s cameras there, there\u2019s a whole private subdivision that isn\u2019t nothing but cameras, and there has to be some video surveillance of something,\u00a0cars going in and out between about 11 o\u2019clock and six in the morning,\u201d he told the outlet.<\/p>\n Danielle Staley, 35, seen in this undated photo by her sister, Airica Staley on GoFundMe.<\/p>\n Rio Del Mar Beach in Santa Cruz County seen in this Google Maps image.<\/p>\n Danielle Staley, 35, a resident of Utah seen in this undated photo. (SCCSO)<\/p>\n Investigators in Santa\u00a0Cruz\u00a0County have interviewed\u00a0Nunez multiple times.\u00a0His van is still in the custody of the sheriff\u2019s office, presumably while\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0being searched for evidence.<\/p>\n Nunez, who has not been named as a suspect,\u00a0said he decided to\u00a0speak out\u00a0about the situation after receiving criticism on social media where the couple\u2019s history of domestic violence has been\u00a0discussed. He\u00a0suggested that Staley may have relapsed on drugs and\u00a0could be\u00a0with other drug users and that the focus should be on finding the 35-year-old and not on him.<\/p>\n Missing California man, 78, \u2018likely dragged\u2019 off by wildlife, sheriff says <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t stop until I find her, and I\u2019m not going anywhere,\u201d he\u00a0told the outlet.<\/p>\n![\"Danielle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/e0f8a25ea65eaa5969c4a9eb0ef3e2f6.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Utah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/b6bf909f0c74d620d6a6c91b694ef079.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Utah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ae6c49c6dec8d8c241b3b2e97a669ee8.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n