Blind woman goes missing in Peru after vowing to explore the world before losing her sight completely

Carla Valpeoz disappeared on December 12 – a day after she climbed to the country's famous ancient Incan settlement Machu Picchu.

Her brother Carlos and their father – also named Carlos – have now flown to Peru from New York in a desperate bid to find her.

Carla's worried dad said: "Carla, dad’s here. Call me, my child. Let us know where you are.

"Or ask someone near you for help. Have them call the TV station. Have them call the police."

Carla, who uses a cane, was diagnosed with optic nerve atrophy aged 10 and has slowly been losing her eyesight ever since.

The 35-year-old was last seen returning to a hostel where she was staying following a night out at a club in the city of Cusco.

Her roommate later woke to find her and her belongings missing, Carla's family told Clicked On Detroit.

CCTV footage showed her taking a taxi from a hostel where she was staying, her brother said.

She then missed her flight home back to the United States.

Explaining his sister’s adventurous spirit, Carlos Jr said: "She’s known her entire life that she will eventually go blind based on her condition.

"So it’s my belief that she wanted to see and experience as much as she could before she couldn’t see anymore.

"I think that is a driving force for her. She wanted to travel as much as she could whether with friends or independently."

Carla had initially travelled to Peru earlier this month to attend a friend's wedding.

She then decided to explore the South American country and celebrated her birthday there on December 8.

Deciding on visiting Macchu Picchu, Carla took a flight to Cusco in the Peruvian Andes on December 11.

Tour guides had discouraged her from making the trek up to see the Incan ruins – but a group of tourists helped her reach the summit.

She then enjoyed a night out in Cusco to celebrate her achievement, according to Carla's brother.

Carlos Jr said: "They were extremely excited about their adventure.

"They conquered Machu Picchu and they wanted to go celebrate."

Her last known communication was on WhatsApp on Dec 12, where she asked an Argentinian man from the tour group if he wanted to meet her at a museum later that day.

Carla had arranged to meet a pal Alicia Steel at Lima Airport on Saturday but she failed to show and the police were alerted.

Ms Steel said: "She had a great time at Huayna Picchu and was very excited to tell me all about it.

"We haven’t heard from her in seven days and she could be hungry.

"It could be anything so please, please help us."

Peruvian police Gen. Max Iglesias said cops are working on the theory that she may have intended to visit the rural village of Pisac.

He added that a potential sighting was reported in a region near Cusco called Madre de Dios, according to CNN.

The Arab American National Museum in Detroit, where Carla worked, issued a missing persons poster.

An experienced traveller, Carla wrote a book titled Visionless Adventures to encourage people with eyesight problems to explore the world.

She has previously visited Yemen, Egypt and much of Central and South America.

The US State Department says it's aware a U.S. citizen has been reported missing in Peru, but declined further comment.

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