After 18 years, detectives say they know how a Tri-Cities 5-year-old disappeared

Police now say a key player in the 2003 abduction of a young Kennewick girl was another kid.

They may not yet know the boy’s name, but detectives have gone public with the suspect’s description at a time when the cold case has drawn resurgent interest, not only in the Tri-Cities but nationwide.

The description is based on a witness account that came in to Kennewick police one day after Sofia Juarez disappeared from her east Kennewick neighborhood.

The update was released Wednesday on the Kennewick Police Department’s designated “What Happened to Sofia?” website.

The witness — upon seeing Sofia’s face in the news on what would have been her 5th birthday — recalled a brief encounter the day earlier between a girl and a Hispanic boy who was estimated to be 11 to 14 years old.

The boy reportedly approached Sofia and led her away toward a nearby stopped van. He laughed as Sofia was crying.

The encounter happened about 8:30 p.m. Feb. 4, 2003, on the eastern sidewalk along South Washington Street, mid-block between East 14th and 15th avenues.

The van was stopped on 14th facing west, as if it was going to turn northbound onto Washington but didn’t, even though there was no cross traffic preventing it from pulling out, said Al Wehner, a special investigator with Kennewick police.

The witness was at a stop sign, and did not realize they were seeing the initial moments of Sofia’s abduction until word of her disappearance was reported in the media. They positively identified Sofia as the girl after viewing a picture, and police determined the witness was highly credible.

The degree of sophistication needed to abduct a child and the fact that Sofia’s body has never been recovered, despite an extensive search, suggests to authorities that the boy did not act alone and had assistance, likely from an adult.

Confidential information

Detectives kept the information confidential at the time “due to active investigations being conducted on people of interest.

Now, 18 years and four months later, they’re asking for the public’s help in finding the main suspect, who would be about 29 to 32 years old.

“We know you’re out there. Now is the time to come forward and let us know what happened to Sofia for the sake of her family and community and getting thing resolved,” Wehner told the Tri-City Herald.

Sofia would be 23. She had walked out of her family home after getting a dollar from her mother and following another adult who was going to a nearby store.

While Sofia’s disappearance has never left the minds of her loved ones, who’ve been praying for answers since that night in early 2003, the case has gained attention recently from the public near and far after a TikTok video surfaced from Mexico.

People magazine is set to publish a story on the case in the next week.

And a Kennewick couple has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of Sofia’s whereabouts.

The husband and wife, who asked to remain anonymous, told police they were touched by the little girl’s story and “would like to do everything they can to help bring resolution to her family,” according to the department’s website post.

TikTok video

Kennewick detectives were alerted to the TikTok video about two months ago, and since then have been working to contact the young woman.

The woman’s face is strikingly similar to Sofia’s, both as a child smiling with a flower hat and in age-progression photos done by police.

The woman says in Spanish during a spontaneous interview with a social media personality that she was kidnapped when she was a young child. She also says she does not like birthdays and is reaching out to her grandmother and grandfather to come find her.

“The truth is, I don’t know where I’m from,” she said. The woman adds that she is 22, but admits she doesn’t know for sure how old she is.

The video is posted on the “Aká y Allá” TikTok account, and brought in 50 tips to Kennewick police.

The personality — “ozzbala” on TikTok and “ozz” on YouTube — has been cooperating with investigators and even went back to the town plaza a few times in Culiacán, Sinaloa, in an attempt to locate her.

The woman, who was homeless, also said during the interview that she had a drug addiction. More recent comments on the video post say she went into a rehabilitation center.

The police department’s website says Kennewick detectives have been in touch with people who claim to be the featured woman’s family, but deny she is Sofia. They’ve also asked for privacy in handling the family matter.

But Wehner says, while police do not want to jeopardize that woman’s care and treatment, they do still have an obligation to follow through considering all of the similarities.

Detectives don’t have the authority to just travel to another country and try to find the woman.

So they’re hopeful they can have a video chat at some point and ask the woman about her claims of having been kidnapped, then try to get her DNA to compare to a saved sample of Sofia’s DNA.

Suspect details

Meanwhile, back in the Tri-Cities, police hope someone is ready to talk, either because they have direct knowledge of a person’s involvement or suspicions, enhanced by some of the newly released details.

“After a recent complete and thorough review of Sofia’s case, based upon available information at this time and with the benefit of 18 years of investigation, police believe the witness observed the initial stages of Sofia’s abduction,” according to the website. “Police currently believe the van and its occupant(s) may be associated with the suspect who led Sofia away.”

The juvenile suspect was described as being 5-foot to 5-foot-2, with a light complexion and hands that were bigger than normal for that age.

He was believed to be “chubby” based primarily on his facial features, with a “baby face” that included a possible mark on his cheek.

His hair was dark, short and wavy, about 1 1/2 inches long, and appeared to be “greased (laying) flat with bangs.”

“Everybody associated with Sofia was investigated from the outset, and there’s absolutely nothing at this point in time to suggest any family members were involved,” said Wehner.

The full-size panel van seen in the intersection of Washington and 15th between 8 and 9:15 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2003, was older 1970s to early 1980s with no side windows.

It had appearances of being a work-type van, like those used by contractors or painters, but does not imply that is who might have been driving it.

A description of the van was released in 2003 and resulted in 24 tips to police, but they didn’t pan out. Another release on the van in the past month generated new information about vehicles that matched the description.

In asking for new tips on the van, detectives don’t want people just to discount the request if they weren’t in the area that night.

People should consider whether they knew someone who operated a similar van 18 years ago and might have traveled those streets as part of their regular route or routine.

“Police are interested in any information people may have, regardless of how minimal it might be,” the website says. “Somebody out there knows what happened to Sofia, or at least has suspicions about someone that may have been involved. Now is the time to come forward and help bring answers to Sofia’s family.”

Anyone with information is asked to visit the the website, www.go2kennewick.com/1368/What-Happened-to-Sofia.

They also can contact Special Investigator Al Wehner at 509-582-1331 or al.wehner@ci.kennewick.wa.us, in addition to calling non-emergency dispatch at 509-628-0333.

This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 3:15 PM.