A pickup artist who was one of the last people to see a missing Australian woman alive in Las Vegas has spoken out about their encounter.
Sally Contarino, 26, was last seen on June 20, the day before she was due to fly back to Australia, and shortly after she was filmed by content creator Damian Iwuala in a seedy Sin City neighbourhood.
Mr Iwuala, who shares videos of himself trying to pick up women, interviewing prostitutes, and asking women who sell themselves on camera sexual questions on his Instagram account “epicdamianPOV”, ran into Ms Contarino on June 17.
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In the video he approached her and said: “Hello, sorry, I saw you. I just saw that you were very beautiful. I was wondering if I could get your number by chance?”
When she told him she had a boyfriend, he asked if she was waiting for him, and she replied that she was just outside smoking a cigarette.
Mr Iwuala told the National News Network that Ms Contarino “looked normal” during the interaction, and did not appear stressed or afraid.
When I first approached her, she was smoking a cigarette, minding her own business, and I approached her and basically tried to talk to her,” he said.
“She said she had a boyfriend, and I said, okay, that’s cool. And then I just walked away.”
He said he had contacted police when he realised the Australian woman was missing, and said he hoped the video helped investigators track her down.
“Hopefully they find her,” he said.
Mr Iwuala said the neighbourhood where they met wasn’t the safest, but was also not as dangerous as some online sleuths had suggested.
“The only reason I was there is because I was picking up my car from a mechanic shop,” he said.
“It’s kind of like a normal Las Vegas neighbourhood.”
Ms Contarino arrived in Las Vegas from Melbourne on June 13, and on June 18 confirmed to her sister she had arrived at a hostel in the downtown area, according to a missing persons report.
On June 20 she told a friend she was going to Lone Mountain for a hike, and was caught on CCTV buying protein bars, water and cigarettes at a grocery store.
Search dogs later picked up her scent near the Fletcher Canyon Trail on Mount Charleston, her sister Amy Contarino revealed.
On June 21 she was supposed to travel by Greyhound Bus to Los Angeles to fly home, but appears not to have boarded, and her suitcase was left at the hostel.
She was last known to be wearing a gray/blue sweatshirt, jean shorts, black and white shoes, and a purse. She has brown eyes and brown hair, is approximately 165cm tall, and weighs about 58kg.
Header image: Left, Damian Iwuala. Right, Sally Contarino (Instagram).
