Missing woman alleged to have resurfaced in viral TikTok
Kennewick Police Department / TikTok: akayallaKennewick Police are investigating after receiving reports that a woman in a viral TikTok appeared to resemble mission person Sofia Juarez, who disappeared just before she turned five in 2003.
On February 4, 2003, the day before her fifth birthday, Sofia told her mother she would be going to the store five blocks away with her grandmother’s boyfriend. When the boyfriend returned, he said that the girl had not gone with him, so the family immediately alerted the authorities.
Her disappearance was treated as an abduction, but the Amber Alert was canceled after she wasn’t located within 36 hours.
18 years later, a TikTok has gone viral of a man interviewing a woman on the streets of Culican, Sinaloa in Mexico, after people claimed she could be the missing child.
In the video uploaded by user akayalla, the mystery woman claimed she is 22-years-old, and that she hates birthdays. She added that she doesn’t know where she is from, and that she wanted to speak to her family because some people said she was kidnapped.
One of the videos now has over 1.5 million views, with hundreds of comments from people urging the original uploader to contact the police. “She is identical to Sofia Juarez! Please be her!” one commenter wrote, another saying: “Please find this girl, get her into law enforcement for a DNA test.”
On their website, Kennewick Police explained that they’ve been receiving reports about the video. “We are aware of the TikTok video,” they said. “Investigation is being conducted into that. Thank you to those who sent information on that video to us. It is appreciated.”
Sofia Juarez was four years old when she went missing in Kennewick, Washington.Many TikTok users have also said they think the woman in the video resembles the age progression pictures of Sofia at age 15 and 23.
Police revealed on their website that over the past month 75 people have given them tips about the case, and said that “previously unknown names and information have been provided.” They also added that: “We continue to investigate the TikTok video.”
As police continue to investigate this viral video and the leads surrounding it, many hope that this could finally provide some answers about the cold case.