Vegas burlesque dancer is missing

LAS VEGAS - Deborah Flores-Narvaez believed she was born to dance.

The 31-year-old Las Vegas burlesque performer left her family and moved across the country for the chance to shake her body at some of Sin City's sultriest nightclubs and revues.

So when she didn't show up for rehearsal last week, family and friends said they knew something was wrong.

"Her thing was dancing," said friend Nick Jones, 24. "That's what she loved to do."

The performer has been missing since Dec. 12, when she said goodbye to her roommate and headed out to visit an ex-boyfriend, Jason "Blu" Griffith, police said.

She failed to show up two days later for a rehearsal of "Fantasy," the nightly burlesque show at the Luxor hotel and casino where she worked, Officer Jacinto Rivera said.

"That was extremely unusual for her," he said.

Griffith has been cooperative with police and there is no evidence that a crime occurred, Rivera said.

Flores-Narvaez's 1997 Chevrolet Prizm was found Friday in north Las Vegas.

Friends and family members say she would never leave without telling her parents or employer that she was going.

She grew up in Puerto Rico before moving to Maryland, where she studied international business. She was an ambassador for the Washington Redskins in 2007, a non-performing position that sent her into the community.

She moved to Las Vegas and was hired at some of the Strip's poshest nightclubs - Haze at the Aria hotel and Jet at the Mirage hotel and casino, among others.

On a Facebook page with her name and picture, she boasted that she was adventurous and wanted an equally spontaneous partner. Still, friends said they doubt she would disappear without warning.

"She wasn't that spontaneous to me," said Jones. "This is all so weird."