Missing couple mystery - Stephanie Porter, boyfriend vanish without a trace

Police are ramping up their investigations into the mysterious disappearance of 33-year-old Stephanie Porter, a dental assistant from Hughenden, Kingston 20, who has been missing since May 24.

Days after she vanished, her boyfriend went missing on May 31, leaving family and friends even more worried and suspicious.

Superintendent Randy Sweeny, commanding officer for the St Andrew North Division, told THE STAR that the case has the full attention of his division.

"We revisited the location and it's something that we are taking seriously. In fact, it is so serious that it is our detectives who are doing the investigation into these two missing persons," Sweeny said.

Porter has been described as being of brown complexion, medium build, about five feet tall, and was last seen wearing a pink blouse and black shorts.

Friends say it is completely out of character for Porter to vanish without a word but find it even more alarming that her partner is now also unaccounted for.

"She is more like a homebody," said a concerned friend. "When she is not at work or out with the kids or her partner, she is mostly at home. She is not the type of person to just go off on the north coast for a week and nobody knows."

Porter, who is the only daughter of her mother, has two children, a nine-year-old son and a teenager.

"It's shocking. [I'm] Just confused, pure confusion, not knowing what to think or not knowing what happened to her," the friend said.

Describing the missing woman as kind-hearted and well-mannered, she added, "For me, she is a nice, easygoing, easy to talk to type of person. I can't ever remember seeing her angry with anybody [and] she is always smiling."

Stephanie, known for her warmth and friendly personality, always took pride in her appearance.

"When she's going out, she knows to put herself together," her friend noted.

Still holding out hope, the friend made an emotional appeal to anyone with information.

"Any information is accepted at this time. Just to know that she is okay. I don't want to think otherwise," the friend pleaded.

"Whether she is with a friend, I don't know. Just to know that she's okay. Because nobody's taking it easy at this time... everybody is just [worried] we just don't know what to do. We're just trying to stay positive."

When asked if Porter had shown any signs of stress in recent weeks, her friend replied, "Well, when I saw her, she was all smiles, she never seemed any way."

Sweeny, meanwhile, reassured the public that the police are actively pursuing all leads.

"I can say we are trying our very best."