Kennewick Police say DNA has revealed a woman in Mexico is not Sophia Juarez.

(image from City of Kennewick, including age-enhanced picture of missing girl)

Kennewick Police say lead came up cold

The disappearance of Sophia Juarez remains one of the Tri-Cities' most baffling and tragic missing person cases. She vanished February 4, 2003, in the evening while on a trip to a nearby store to join a relative. She was not seen again.

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Now, years later, a potential lead was examined closely by Kennewick Police, who said Thursday March 10th:

"In March 2021, information was received via social media channels, that a female located in Mexico might be Sofia Juarez. There was much coverage of the matter and through extensive efforts with our domestic and international law enforcement partners, it was determined through DNA evidence that the female was NOT Sofia."

The City of Kennewick has a page on its website dedicated to the efforts made to locate the little girl. This DNA lead came out a year ago. From the Kennewick City page:

"As a recap, in early March 2021 a social media personality interviewed a female in a town plaza in Culiacan, Sinaloa Mexico. The female had striking physical similarities to Sofia’s childhood photographs. The female, who appeared to be homeless, claimed she was about the same age Sofia would now be, that she had been kidnapped, and did not know where she was from."

Despite the setback, officials say they will continue to work with every potential lead until they find out what happened. To see this Sophia Juarez page, click here. 

 

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