Two of Washington State’s Most Tragic Missing Person Cases That Hit Close to Home

I can't imagine what life might be like for people who have had loved ones just simply disappear. And I hope I never find out what that feels like. Washington State has had its share of missing person cases. Two of them have hit fairly close to home.

Case #1: The Disappearance of Sophia Suarez

We all recall the Sophia Suarez case of the missing toddler from Kennewick in 2003. What I find interesting is that in News archives she is called Sophia Suarez but also Sophia Juarez. I don't know if that is just a type error or what. But, through the years there has been speculation that Sophia is still alive and is somewhere in Mexico.

Social Media Viewers on TikTok found a video of another Sophia that looks like an older video of Sophia.

It sure looks like it could be her. I imagine police have followed up on these leads. Still seems very odd to me.

4-Year-Old Sophia Disappeared from Her Kennewick Apartment

Sophia disappeared from her Kennewick apartment where she lived with her mother in 2003. She supposedly tried to follow a family member to the store on foot when she disappeared never to be seen again.

Case #2: The Disappearance of Janice Ott

The second case is the disappearance of Janice Ott from Lake Sammamish State Park near Seattle.

A past Co-worker of mine Tony Ott relayed the story was a terrible loss to his family.

"It was the summer of 1974' Tony explains. "A year and time I will never ever forget. My Aunt Janice was abducted in July from Lake Sammamish and her remains were found in the fall by hunters in the surrounding mountains not far from where she was last seen alive. The trauma it caused my family and her family for 15 years, until his execution in Florida, was overwhelming to say the least...

"Ted Bundy did make the confession that Janice was one of his victims, which gave us a tiny bit of closure. It is terribly hard, even 50 years later, to watch shows dedicated to Ted Bundy, which brings up that horrible time again and again. Something we will never forget and for a 12-year-old, which I was in 74' it has never left me, or my surviving family that lived through it."

 

I wish that the human race could evolve past hurting each other. It's difficult to wrap your head around that kind of mentality where someone wants to literally take the life of another.