Sofia Juarez

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2:21discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices for Justice.

2:32Today I'm discussing the case of Sofia Juarez. Sofia disappeared the day before her fifth birthday after walking out of her home with one dollar in her hand to buy candy. It was the kind of small, ordinary childhood moment that should have ended with her coming back through the door a few minutes after. Nearly 20 years later, one viral TikTok would pull her case back into the spotlight and make millions of people ask the same question her family's been asking since 2003. What happened to Sofia? And could she still be alive? This is the case of Sofia Juarez. It's Tuesday, February 4th, 2003 in Kennewick, Washington, and inside a home near East 15th Avenue and South Washington Street, four-year-old Sofia Juarez is excited for her fifth birthday the following day.

3:28It's about 8 p.m., and Sofia is with her family, including her mother Maria, her grandmother Ignacia, her grandmother's longtime boyfriend Jose Torres, and a few more younger relatives. It's a multi-generational home. According to the Kennewick Police Department, shortly before 8pm, Sophia's grandmother, an older uncle, and aunt leave the home to run an errand. At this point, Sophia's mom Maria is in one room and her grandmother's boyfriend Jose is in another while the kids play throughout the house. But shortly after 8pm, Jose realizes that they need a few food items, so he decides to run up to the store to grab them.

4:07He asks if any of the kids want to go with him, but no one responds, so he heads out the door alone. But then Sophia changes her mind, as she was known to do. She runs to her mom and asks if she can go with Jose. Of course, she also asked for a dollar so she could buy some candy. Maria gave her permission, gave her the dollar, and helped adjust her white Converse shoes right before Sophia ran out the door. But when she got outside, Jose's car was already leaving, and Jose didn't know that Sophia had changed her mind. He also didn't know that she was trying to catch up with him. So, Sophia starts walking westbound on East 15th Avenue toward Washington Street.

4:48She is alone and in the dark, but none of the adults in her life knew that yet. Jose stops at a nearby gas station, then goes across the street to buy the groceries. It's not until he gets back at about 9.15pm that they all realize Sophia never left with him. Once they realize that she's missing, they immediately begin searching. Her family searched the house, they searched outside, they called for her, they checked the area around the home, and tried to retrace where she might have gone. But everywhere they looked, Sophia was not there. So at 9.23pm, Maria calls 911. one. By 9.26 p.m., patrol officers were on the scene.

5:31As the night continued, the search grew. More officers responded. Neighbors were interviewed. People looked through yards, alleys, streets, and anywhere else they could think of. Of course, we know that those first few moments when a child goes missing are crucial. But in Sophia's case, there was another factor. She was wearing a red long-sleeve shirt, blue overalls, violet socks, and white Converse shoes. Even though it was cold that night somewhere in the 30s, she wasn't wearing a coat because her mom anticipated her traveling from the heated vehicle to the heated store. It was only supposed to be a short trip, but at these temperatures, it's not just about being comfortable.

6:12That type of cold for a four-year-old could become dangerous fast. Then midnight passed. February 5th arrived, Sophia's fifth birthday. By then, Sophia was no longer just a child who hadn't come home. She was missing in the dark, in nearly freezing temperatures with no coat, and no clear explanation for how she'd vanished so quickly. So officials in Washington did something that they'd never done before. They issued their first Amber Alert. But even as the alert spread, one terrifying fact remained. Somewhere between her front door and that nearby store, Sofia Juarez had disappeared. This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by HERS.

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9:27By the morning of February 5th, 2003, the search for Sofia Juarez was massive. This was definitely an all-hands-on-deck situation. An incident management team was activated to coordinate the search operation. In the first 72 hours, more than 500 people were involved. Kennewick police, neighboring law enforcement agencies, FBI agents, state investigators, trained canine teams, dive teams, boat teams, and volunteers all searched for Sophia. Flyers were sent to schools and businesses, neighbors helped, churches helped, people searched fields and backyards, bloodhounds were brought in, dive teams checked waterways, crews searched sewers and canals, and when the sun went down, thermal imaging helicopters searched through the night.

10:14This was not a quiet disappearance that nobody noticed. Sophia's community showed up. But the problem was that Sophia seemed to vanish in a very small window of time. We know she left the house after Jose Torres had already pulled away sometime around 8.15pm, and that her family realized she was missing when he got back about an hour later. police were searching minutes after she was reported missing so really she was gone within about an hour now tracking dogs did follow her scent from the family home toward west washington street but then the trail abruptly ended this of course prompted theories that she may have been picked up by a vehicle and we know how these investigations go you start with the inner circle and you work your way out.

11:05Sophia's biological father was interviewed and cleared. His name is Andres Gutierrez-Abrahan. He was never in her life and denied paternity, so they talked to him, rule him out, and move on. Sophia's grandmother's longtime boyfriend, Jose Torres, cooperated fully, and it appears that store video surveillance did confirm that he was at the store when he said he was. In the end, after speaking with everyone in the home and beyond, the police have said that there's nothing to suggest that any family members were involved. But of course, with the searches turning up nothing, and with the scent trail abruptly stopping on the street, the prevailing theory was that someone abducted Sophia.

11:48Now, I do want to note here that Sophia's mom, Maria, always maintained that Sophia was shy and would not just go off with anyone. She believed that if someone took Sophia, that person may have been familiar to her, or at least make themselves feel safe enough for her to go follow them. Obviously, it's a terrifying thought. But luckily, in those early days, investigators were drowning in Leeds. By February 12th, more than 100 possible sightings of Sophia had reportedly been followed up on across the country. More than 150 registered sex offenders in the area had been checked. Search warrants were executed on homes and vehicles connected to people of interest, and authorities interviewed friends, family friends, and community members.

12:35Now, one local man did make a harassing phone call referencing Sophia, but he was prosecuted and there was no confirmed link to her disappearance after they searched his home. I really do have to give these officials credit because they were aggressively searching for Sophia in every place they could think of. Police searched homes in Kennewick and nearby Burbank, and one of those searches in particular drew a lot of media attention. That search was the home of the mother of convicted murderer Jeremy Sagastowy. So let's break it down. And I want to warn you that this story is hard to hear. In 1995, Sagastowy was babysitting three-year-old Keevan Zarbacher in Finley, Washington, when he sexually abused, beat, stabbed, and drowned him.

13:27Then he waited for Kivon's mother, Melissa Sarbacher, to come home, and he shot and killed her and her friend, Lisa Vera Acevedo. Sagastowi plated guilty to three counts of aggravated first-degree murder and was executed by lethal injection in 1998. So when police searched his mother's home in the days after Sophia disappeared, it understandably raised questions. Segastwey had been dead for years at this point, and his mother accused police of pressuring her and her other sons to confess to harming Sophia. But it was really like this big media blip that quickly went away, because in the end, there was no confession and no evidence found.

14:11Or, like I always say, if there was, they weren't telling the public that. So really, when you look back at those first days and weeks of Sophia's case, you see two things happening at the same time. On one hand, there's an enormous search and a very active investigation. On the other, there's no solid answer. And for the family, that is a very specific kind of torture. Because people are doing things, police are searching, volunteers are showing up. Her case also did receive quite a bit of national attention. America's Most Wanted featured Sophia's story. NASCAR driver Damon Lusk, who was from Kennewick, ran Sophia's photo on his race car to bring even more attention to the case.

14:58The tips were coming in, but none of it was bringing Sophia home. And for some reason, her Amber Alert is cancelled just 36 hours after it was issued, despite again the prevailing theory being abduction. Like I said, this is a community who is very invested in Sophia's case. Not long after, about 300 people joined a candlelight vigil and march from Sophia's home to St. Joseph's Church. Really, the next credible tip comes in in May. That's when investigators said that they were looking for a full-size, faded orange van that had reportedly been seen in the neighborhood around the time Sophia went missing.

15:40The van was described as a mid-1990s model with Washington plates that included the letters JJ. and the driver was described as a white man around 35 to 40 years old with a thick blonde beard. Now, they were pretty careful about this lead. They wanted to identify the van and its driver, but they made it clear that this was just a possible witness that they wanted to talk to, not someone who was definitively linked to Sophia's disappearance. But as far as we know, this tip unfortunately didn't lead to anything substantial in her case. Of course, detectives continued working, leads continued coming in, but there was no breakthrough, and no credible sightings of Sophia.

16:25And like we see all too often, the years began to pass. Sophia's case was passed between investigators as new, more urgent cases filled their time. Then, in 2006, school fragments were found in a field south of Ritzville. Obviously, whenever remains are found in a region connected to a missing child, families have to brace themselves for the worst. But testing those fragments determined that they were at least 600 years old and unrelated to Sophia. All of this is a lot for anyone and any family to deal with. And then, in 2009, Sophia's case became even more heartbreaking. Her mom, Maria, died from medical complications at just 26 years old.

17:13Her family said that Maria never gave up hope that Sofia would be found. Her brother, Juan Juarez, later spoke publicly about how painful it was that Maria died without ever seeing her daughter again. And to honor this sentiment, Maria's funeral procession returned her ashes to Kennewick by the same candlelight route used in 2003 for Sofia. You thought this was your Run Club era. Turns out, it was more of a thinking about Run Club era. The good news? Someone's marathon training is about to start. Sell your workout gear on Depop. Just snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest. They get their race day fit and you get a payout for trying.

17:59Someone on Depop wants what you've got. Start selling now. Depop. Where taste recognizes taste. For years, there were periodic updates in Sophia's case, but no real breakthroughs and no arrests. In 2011, KPD Sergeant Randy Maynard, who was working the case at the time, told the Seattle Times that his gut feeling was that Sophia was alive out there somewhere. Though he admitted that he had no evidence to prove it. By 2015, KPD Chief Hohenberg enlisted retired police captain Al Wehner to audit unsolved cases within the department, including Sophia's. And by 2019, he officially became the special investigator assigned to her case.

18:47Then in 2020 and 2021, the Kennewick police began a renewed public push. In 2021, the Washington State Patrol unveiled the Homeward Bound initiative, including a semi-trailer featuring Sophia's image. I love this initiative and we've seen it before in other cases, but if you aren't familiar with it, it's meant to keep her face moving across the region, literally putting her case on the road so that more people might see her and remember. That same year, Kennewick police launched a dedicated website for Sophia's case called What Happened to Sophia? And then, social media brought a sudden wave of attention with one viral video.

19:31A TikTok video from Mexico garnered about 2 million views. In the video, a young woman speaking Spanish said that she'd been kidnapped when she was a child. She didn't know where she was from. She didn't like birthdays. And she said that she wanted her grandparents to come find her. Now, this was a very emotional video. And the woman's face looked similar enough to Sophia's age progression images that people began sending it to police. But I want to be careful here, because this is exactly where true crime and social media can either help or cause harm. Of course, it made sense for investigators to look into it.

20:11They had an obligation to follow up, especially given the similarities and the woman's own statements that she'd been kidnapped as a child. But of course, that woman was also a real person. She was reportedly unhoused at the time and dealing with substance use disorder. People claiming to be her family publicly said that she was not Sophia and asked for privacy. And ultimately, I think you guys know where this is going. DNA testing confirmed that the woman in the TikTok was not Sophia. Really, this TikTok became this bittersweet moment in Sophia's case. It was obviously devastating for those who loved her and hoped that she was alive out there somewhere.

20:53But it also showed that people still remembered her. It shows that when her face circulated again, people responded. And in a case where investigators continue to ask for public awareness, that does matter. But the most significant 2021 update was not that TikTok. It was a witness account involving a boy and a van. According to reporting, the witness came forward the day after Sophia disappeared. They saw her face on the news on what would have been her fifth birthday. Then they remembered seeing a girl matching Sophia's description the night before on South Washington Street. Here's what they say.

21:35The girl was crying. A Hispanic boy, estimated to be around 11 to 14 years old at the time, approached her and led her toward a stopped van. He was laughing while she continued crying. The van was stopped on 14th Avenue facing west, as if it was going to turn northbound onto Washington. But according to this witness, it didn't move, even though there was no cross traffic blocking it. Police later said that they determined that this witness was highly credible. Now, I just want to clarify that this is completely different from the orange van sighting I told you at the top of the episode. different that the public didn't know about.

22:18Like I always say, if something came, if there were more witnesses, more statements, they weren't telling the public about it, and this is the perfect example of that. For years, investigators kept this information confidential because of active investigations involving people of interest, but after a complete review of the case, they publicly released it in 2021. So there's a ton of buzz around Sophia's case and a huge pop of media attention. But this is where the case becomes both clearer and more disturbing. Because police believe the witness may have observed the initial stages of Sophia's abduction, and they also believe that the boy likely did not act alone.

23:02And that unfortunately makes sense. An 11 to 14 year old boy could perhaps lure a four-year-old. Like Maria said, Sophia would not have gone with a stranger, but she may have gone with a child who appeared to be trusting. But abducting a child in a way that leaves no confirmed trace for more than 20 years suggests help, planning, or an adult waiting nearby. Now, the juvenile suspect was described as Hispanic, 11 to 14 years old in 2003, about 5 feet to 5 feet 2 with a light complexion. He was believed to have a round or quote baby face, dark short wavy hair, and possibly a mark on his cheek. Reports also noted that his hands appeared bigger than normal for his age.

23:49If he is still alive, he would likely be in his mid to late 30s as of recording this episode. The van was described as a full-size older panel van from the 1970s to early 1980s with no side windows. It was described as a work-type van, like the kind someone might associate with contractors or painters. But investigators have been very clear that that does not mean that the person driving it was necessarily a contractor or painter, and it may have been light blue or silver gray. I say all these details because they matter. When investigators ask for information, they're not only asking people who were standing on that corner on February 4th, 2003.

24:31They're asking people to think about who they knew. Who had a van like that? Or who had access to a van like that? Who had a teenage boy in their orbit who fit that description? Do you know someone who suddenly got rid of a vehicle like that? Did someone behave differently after Sophia disappeared? Maybe someone heard a rumor and dismissed it because it felt too small, too old, or too messy. We know that's often how cold cases move forward, not because someone wakes up with the entire solution, but because one person finally reports the one piece that they have, and that piece fits into something investigators already know.

25:10And in Sophia's case, police have said that they still receive tips. As of the 2026 anniversary coverage, Special Investigator Al Wehner said that they still get tips roughly every week or two. He's been assigned specifically to Sophia's case since 2019, reviewing tips, organizing evidence, and re-examining investigative paths. Kennewick Police Commander Ryan Kelly said that Sophia's case includes more than 20 ,000 pages of investigative material, and that it generates more tips than any other cold case in the department. That's both encouraging and devastating. Encouraging because the case isn't forgotten.

25:49devastating because more than 20 000 pages still haven't answered the question that matters most where is sophia where is daredevil a minor don't miss the return of marvel television's daredevil born again so what's next i've been liberated we're gonna take this city back Over Medicaid. In an all new season, now streaming only on Disney+. They're hunting us. It's time we started hunting them. I can work with that. That nobody gets out. This should be tons of fun. Marvel Television's Daredevil, Born Again, now streaming only on Disney+. There are a few major theories in Sophia's case, but investigators appear to believe that she was abducted by someone outside of her family.

26:39The witness account involving the boy in the van supports that possibility. The lack of any confirmed evidence that Sophia wandered off and died nearby also pushes investigators away from a simple lost child scenario. There have also been hit-and-run theories over the years. Tips have suggested that Sophia may have been accidentally struck by someone in a vehicle and then moved. Of course, police did investigate those leads, but publicly no confirmed evidence has established this theory. There have also been possible sightings and false leads, including the TikTok lead from Mexico, and other women who were later ruled out by DNA or photo comparisons.

27:22Through all of this, one thing has stayed consistent. Sophia has never been found. No one has been arrested, no one has been charged, and her family has continued waiting. In 2026, on the 23rd anniversary of Sophia's disappearance, investigators again emphasized that the case remains active. Commander Ryan Kelly said cold cases become cold because they're challenging, not because police stop working them. And he said something that really stuck with me. Someone somewhere knows something about Sophia. Which brings me right to our call to action. Because that is the heart of this case now. If investigators are right, if a boy helped lead Sophia away and an adult or adult were connected to that van, then more than one person may have known what happened that night.