The U.S. State Department is joining the search to try to find a Bay Area couple who disappeared in Peru while on a biking expedition.

Cycle enthusiasts Garrett Hand and Jamie Neal left the Bay Area in November for an adventure of a lifetime, a bike trek through South America.

Although miles away from home, they were never more than a computer away from family and friends.

The couple chronicled their travels on Facebook, but the photos and status updates stopped Jan. 25.

"It's upsetting, I'm worried about both of them," said Jeff Jerge, owner of Pedaler Bike Shop.

Neal was on extended vacation from the Pedaler Bike Shop, where she worked and put together her bike for the trip.

Jerge said the couple customized old sturdy steel bikes that would be easy to fix on the road trip

Those bikes are ever-present in their Facebook photos.

Their posts showed they traveled to Argentina, Chile and Peru.

One of Neal's last updates mentions they decided to go to the Amazon instead of Machu Picchu.

The couple took a bus from Cusco to Lima and was last seen Jan. 26 getting into a cab.

The United States Embassy in Peru's website shows a security message warning Americans of kidnapping threats around Cusco.

"What kind of warnings would they see while traveling?" Jerge said. "They're within the people, they're not watching the news."

The U.S. State Department put out a poster of the missing couple.

Everyone is hoping they are just in too remote an area to be able to contact anyone.

Neal’s sister Jennifer said she is hopeful that the couple is OK, but she fears something bad could have happened.

“I haven’t seen a video from her since January 25, so to me anything could’ve happened since then," Jennifer Neal said. "I hope that she's just having a blast and they're doing what they went to do, you know.”

The family says the U.S. Embassy in Lima as well as Peruvian authorities are helping to look for the couple and the embassy is in contact with their families.

The Pedaler Bike Shop set up a reward fund in the couple's name for their safe return at Mechanics Bank and so far they've raised $3,000.