Richard Forester says they had been dating for two and a half years, but quarreled before she left. He received his last e-mail from Gardner Tuesday, three hours before she was reported missing.
“The last message I got from her was ‘I love you,’” Forester said. “We will talk and sort things out when I get back,” Gardner wrote.
Forester thought Gardner went with a friend, but now believes she had a romantic relationship with her companion. The man notified Aruban authorities Gardner was missing. He said a current pulled her out to sea while snorkeling, according to an account in a local newspaper.
Aruban authorities detained Gardner's companion Gary Giordano when he tried to leave the island. The 50-year-old apparently has an extensive rap sheet which includes domestic violence.
A center set up in her name is helping Gardner’s boyfriend deal work with local authorities.
Gardner is described as 5’5 and 120 pounds, with blond hair and brown eyes. She has a large tattoo from the back of her left shoulder to her elbow, as well as tattoos on her rib cage and her right bicep.