Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
Sofia Lucerno Juarez
Sofia, date, approximate 2003; Age-progression to age 17 (date, approximate 2015)
Date Missing 02/04/2003
Missing From
Kennewick, Washington
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Female
Race
Hispanic
Date of Birth 02/05/1998 (24)
Age 4 years old
Height and Weight 3'0, 33 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A red long-sleeved shirt, blue overalls, violet socks, white Conversesneakers, and gold hoop earrings.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Black hair, brown eyes. Sofia was missing her top four front teeth at the time of her disappearance. She has a mole under her eye. Her ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance Sofia was last known to be playing with her brother in her bedroom between 8:15 and 9:15 p.m. on February 4, 2003, the day before her fifth birthday. She left the bedroom and told her mother, Maria Juarez, that she was going to the store five blocks away.
She was supposed to be accompanied by her grandmother's boyfriend. Maria gave Sofia a dollar to spend at the store and assumed she caught a ride with the boyfriend. Sofia did not get into the car, however, and he left without her. No one saw her leave the house. When her grandmother's boyfriend returned from the store at 9:45 p.m. and said Sofia had not gone with him, Maria alerted the authorities.
Sofia's disappearance was treated as an abduction from the outset and an Amber Alert was issued. It was canceled after she was not located within 36 hours. Police continue to believe she was abducted.
They have contacted Sofia's father and say he was cooperative and is not a suspect in the . Her father has never met her. Her grandmother's boyfriend has also been ruled out as a suspect in Sofia's disappearance.A ten-year-old relative of Sofia's who lived in her home said he saw her walking down the driveway at about the time she disappeared, accompanied by a man dressed in a black sweatshirt, black pants, and black shoes. This sighting has not been confirmed.
Authorities, in May 2003, announced they were looking for a mid-nineties model full-sized faded orange van with a license plate which had a double J in the number. The van's driver was a Caucasian male with a thick blond beard, between 35 and 40 years old. A witness recalled seeing the van in the area around the time of Sofia's disappearance. Police do not know if the van is connected to her .
Investigators later released a description of the possible suspect in Sofia's abduction, and shockingly, the suspect was apparently another child. He appeared to be between 11 and 14 years old in 2003. A witness described the boy as Hispanic, about five feet tall with short, wavy dark-colored hair, a "baby face" and large hands. He took Sofia by the hand and led her away towards the van, laughing as she cried.
Extensive searches have produced little of evidentiary value in Sofia's . Searchers found a pair of overalls and a pair of little girl's shoes in the area, but neither belonged to her. Nothing else was ever located.
Sofia is described as a loving and vivacious child. Her mother stated she was shy and wouldn't have gone with a stranger without a fuss. Maria believed Sofia's kidnapper was someone the child knew and trusted. She enjoyed playing with Barbie dolls and putting on makeup at the time of her disappearance, and her favorite food is hamburgers from the fast food restaurant chain Burger King.
Despite a search which extended to Mexico and fairly extensive media coverage, Sofia remains missing and her is unsolved. Her mother died of natural causes in January 2009, aged twenty-six.
Investigating Agency
Kennewick Police Department
509-585-4208
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Code Amber
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Tri-City Herald
Komo 1000 News
Oregon Live
Thew Child Seek Network
Sofia's Page
What Happened to Sofia?
NBC Right Now
People Magazines
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
