Sofía Juárez was last seen, the day before her fifth birthday, at her family home in Kennewick, a small river town flanked by the deep forests of Washington state.
The local police assure that she was kidnapped between 8:00 and 9:00 at night on February 4, 2003, when she was walking down the street.
Of Latin origin, she lived then with her mother, grandmother and several uncles, and was "the typical girl who enjoys cartoons, playing with her Barbie dolls, and coloring."
"She was shy by nature, and not at all given to wandering on her own," the police add, and "she was very excited for her birthday."
"Her mother went to her grave without knowing what happened to Sofía," adds the police, who assure that her family and friends have lived "under a dark cloud" since she disappeared.
"What happened to Sofia?" Headlines her research page.
In addition to offering any clue in this regard, the police also publish on that page portraits of what the girl was like at the time of her disappearance and how she would have aged over time: with 15 years in 2013, or 23 years in 2021.
He continues to receive possible clues, according to special investigator Al Wehner to the station KNDO23, and in fact "recently he obtained about 90", but one of them has attracted the attention of the media by going viral on the social network TikTok: a video in which Sofía Juárez herself appears supposedly.
"We were not expecting it," explains Victoria Juárez, a spokeswoman for the family, "we are certainly very surprised because there is usually more activity during their anniversary in February and now we are overwhelmed by new leads."
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The video in question was posted in April by an account called @akayalla, which has more than 80,000 followers on that network.
The recording was supposed to be used to interview random people on the streets of Cualiacán, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, for humorous purposes, but the intervention of a homeless young woman changed everything.
"I send a greeting to my father and my nanny. I have not seen them for many years. If you are watching this program, I ask you to come for me, because here I am kidnapped," says the woman before the microphone, before regretting that he has fallen "into the vice of drugs."
When asked his age, he says he is around 22 years old.
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"When we saw the video we got very nervous," explains Victoria Juárez, "there are some similarities in their appearance with respect to our family."
"We have been in contact with people in Mexico who say they are relatives of theirs and that it is not Sofia, but we are working on confirming it," he adds.
To do this, explains the aforementioned station, they will try to take samples of your DNA to compare it with that of your family.
Another lead investigated by the local police includes the testimony of a credible witness (whose identity has not been disclosed) who said he saw a girl whose description matches that of Sofía Juárez, who was allegedly approached by a woman and He took her with another person at the time he is believed to have disappeared in 2003.
A suspicious blue-gray van was also seen and is under investigation. Any clue can be provided by phone at 509-582-1331 or by e-mail at al.wehner@ci.kennewick.wa.us.
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