Viral TikTok Video Provides New Leads In 2003 Kidnapping Of Washington Girl

A viral TikTok video has reignited the search for Sofia Juárez. She went missing a day before her fifth birthday in February of 2003.

CNN reports that TikTok users contacted the Kennewick Police Department after viewing an interview of a woman in Culiacán, Sinaloa, in Mexico, similar in age to Juárez. In the interview, the woman says she is around 22-years-old but hates birthdays. The girl says she was kidnapped when she was very young, says hi to her relatives, and admits she doesn’t know where she is from.

“There’s some very obvious similarities,” Kennewick Police Special Investigator Al Wehner said. He said that investigators hope to contact the woman to do a DNA test and compare it to Juárez’s DNA on file.

According to NBC News, a website was created about a month ago to bring attention to Juárez’s case. Since then, it has received more than 100 new tips.

With the renewed interest in the case, officials say there is “a high degree of interest” in a light blue, silver, or gray, late 1970s to early 1980’s full-sized panel van with no side window was spotted in the area the night Juárez went missing. 

Juárez’s mother passed away in 2009, but police remain in close contact with the rest of her family. 

That Sofia Juarez case has haunted me for so long and I have no connection with the family. Only thing is she’s from my area and we’re close in age and that hits me hard. Hope they find her. It’s been so long. pic.twitter.com/iPG91OJWyb

— Ernie The Cowboys Fan (@es3_09) May 5, 2021