Authorities were searching last night for a missing visitor after her rental car was discovered in a wooded area in east Kauai.

The search for Nola Rebecca Thompson, who was reported missing on Kauai on Sept. 2, was focused in the Wailua area, where her rented two-door Chrysler convertible was found in a mountainous area off a loop road.

Thompson of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., had traveled to Kauai for a weeklong vacation to celebrate her 45th birthday.

Thompson’s mother, Pearl, said, "I’m just hopeful, very hopeful" the search team will locate her daughter.

Her mother arrived on Kauai from Arizona on Sunday.

Thompson’s younger brother, Scott Thompson, and his wife, Liz, arrived three days ago. The siblings live about a mile apart in Rancho Santa Margarita.

"They’re very close," said their mother.

Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kauai Visitors Bureau, has been instrumental in the search, the family said.

"She’s been our angel on our shoulder," said Pearl Thompson.

Pearl Thompson said Kanoho helped organize a group of volunteers in the search efforts and assisted in getting fliers posted throughout the community.

Thompson said her daughter’s suitcases were left in her hotel room with her clothes still hanging in the closet. Her phone charger was also left behind, said her mother, noting that it appeared that Thompson didn’t plan to stay out all day.

"Everything was left behind."