A Saint Louis Ballet Dancer Is Missing

Update: Raffaella Stroik’s body was found near a boat ramp in Florida, Missouri on Wednesday morning. According to the South Bend Tribune, the cause of death has not yet been released and the investigation remains open. Foul play is not suspected. A funeral Mass has been scheduled for Wednesday, November 20 at the Sacred Heart Basilica at the University of Notre Dame. Our thoughts are with her friends and family.

Raffaella Stroik
, a 23-year-old dancer with the Saint Louis Ballet, went missing on Monday.

Her car was found with her phone inside in a parking lot near a boat ramp in Mark Twain Lake State Park—130 miles away from St. Louis. On Tuesday, the police began an investigation into her whereabouts.

Stroik was last seen at 10:30 am on Monday at a Whole Foods Market in Town and Country, a suburb of St. Louis. She was wearing an olive green jacket, a pink skirt, navy pants with white zippers and white tennis shoes.

Stroik joined St. Louis Ballet in 2017, and previously danced at American Contemporary Ballet, Indiana University Ballet Theater and Southold Dance Theatre. She is a graduate of Indiana University, and once let Dance Magazine follow her around for a day.

The St. Louis Ballet describes her as “a talented and undeniably beautiful soul.” She is also involved in the St. Louis Young Adults, a group for young Catholics.

St. Louis Ballet, along with Stroik’s family and friends, are appealing for the public’s help on social media. Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to call the Missouri State Highway Patrol at 660-385-2132.