Camela Leierth-Segura vanished from Beverly Hills in June, and her friends are desperate for answers.
There’s been no sign of Leierth-Segura, best known for co-writing Katy Perry’s hit “Walking on Air,” since June 30 when her Ford Fusion license plate was picked up by a police camera leaving Beverly Hills at 2:40 a.m., her friend Liz Montgomery told The Times on Wednesday.
According to Montgomery, who says she’s been close friends with Leierth-Segura for more than two decades, the disappearance of the musician/model is completely out of character. She said police told her that Leierth-Segura’s last outgoing text message was sent June 29 to a friend in Sweden, where she is originally from, and wasn’t regarding anything important.
Police were not notified that the musician had vanished until the first week of August, when unanswered texts and phone calls had begun to pile up, a Beverly Hills police spokesperson told The Times. Leierth-Segura’s sister, who resides in Sweden, called Montgomery for help after not hearing back from her 48-year-old sibling. Montgomery ultimately called the Beverly Hills Police Department requesting a welfare check.
The BHPD found no sign of the singer-songwriter, or her beloved 19-year-old cat, Morris, at her residence, and the landlord informed police that she’d recently been evicted, according to Montgomery. Dead plants lined her balcony and a “For Rent” sign was posted just outside the one-bedroom apartment. Montgomery filed a missing person report that day.
“She had mentioned it to all of us that she was having trouble; COVID definitely was not helpful for her because she’s a musician, model, actress, all that stuff,” Montgomery said in a phone call. “And there was no money coming in.”
Although the “Walking on Air” co-writer had mentioned she might get evicted months ago, Montgomery said she didn’t realize her friend was in real trouble. She insisted that Leierth-Segura would reach out to friends for help.
“I’m concerned about her safety very much,” Montgomery said. “She’s not the type to live out of her car. So I’m just very concerned that something happened.”
Leierth-Segura’s friend and fellow model Cecilia Foss echoed Montgomery, saying, “She has never ever, ever, ever disappeared before.”
Foss told The Times over the phone on Wednesday: “I know she’s been arguing with the landlord about the back rent, but she has a lot of friends that she could have called easily and crashed on their couch.
“I want everyone to be on the lookout for her because I think something happened,” Foss continued, adding that if her friend left her apartment on June 29, it’s been seven weeks with no word, and “nobody goes for a seven-week drive.”
“The Police Department has been tracing her car,” Foss said. “There’s absolutely no sign of it since the last time the car was seen leaving the city of Beverly Hills. But we don’t know if she was actually driving because the cameras are not showing the drivers so we don’t actually know if she was in the vehicle.”
An emotional Montgomery said the photo of Leierth-Segura in the missing person report didn’t really resemble her good friend: “She likes to wear hats … so she could be wearing a hat. She’s very thin.”
Montgomery shared a plea on Instagram to help locate her friend: “We are extremely worried about her safety, and despite our best efforts, the local authorities have not been able to locate her.” The post asks that any information be sent to FindCamela@gmail.com, the police (at [310] 285-2184) or Montgomery via Instagram.
The musician’s landlord could not immediately be reached for comment on the circumstances behind Leierth-Segura’s eviction.
