A Mall of America store manager is missing after failing to report to work last week, and people closest to her said that police found her empty car before dawn Monday tucked away in a parking ramp at the shopping complex.

Kira Trevino, 30, of St. Paul, was supposed to work Friday at Delia's, a clothing store for teenage girls, but did not show up after leaving her home on Iowa Avenue, said Tara Hall, who also works at the store. She described herself as Trevino's best friend.

Hall, in a telephone interview from the mall, said police found Trevino's white Chevy Cobalt in a "very isolated corner" on the ground level of the west parking area. She said police also told her that Trevino was not in the car.

Trevino's sister, Keri Steger, said police found Kira's purse and cellphone in the car.

Hall said it would make sense for Trevino to park on that side of the mall, but not in the area where the car was.

"This is very unlike her," said Hall, who has known Trevino since 2006, first meeting when they worked at a similar store at the mall.

Kept in regular touch

"We're the closest" among the siblings in the family while growing up, said Steger, who is a year younger than Trevino.

She said the two kept in regular touch through Facebook and texting and said she last heard from Trevino about a week and a half ago.

"She is a person with great responsibility, and she is very dedicated to all of her endeavors," Steger said, noting that her sister managed the Wet Seal clothing store at the mall for about five years before moving over to Delia's last year.

Trevino's husband, Jeff Trevino, confirmed that police found the car but would not take questions about the case, saying he didn't want to hinder the investigation.

St. Paul Police spokesman Paul Paulos said his department is handling Trevino's disappearance as a missing person's case, but he did not say more.

Kira Trevino is described as white, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing 110 pounds. She has shoulder-length blond hair and green eyes.

A Facebook page that Hall started said Kira Trevino also has family and friends in Wisconsin, but "she could be anywhere."

To see more on Facebook, visit www.startribune.com/a2088.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to call St. Paul police at 651-266-5650.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482