Nine years ago today, a security camera captured 15-year-old Sophie Reeder walking along Davie Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She was wearing a short black dress, a brown fur coat, headphones, and high-top sneakers. The camera last captured Sophie at 2:52 a.m. She hasn’t been seen since.
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Sophie’s family is still searching for answers.
Dateline covered Sophie’s disappearance in Season 4 of the Dateline: Missing in America podcast, and spoke with Sophie’s father, Patrick Reeder, her aunt, Kirsten Reeder Milhorn, and Fort Lauderdale Police Sergeant Don Geiger.
Patrick told Dateline he last saw Sophie on the evening of May 19, 2017, before she went to her bedroom around 11 p.m.
“She was pacing up and down the house. From the front to the back, front to the back,” Patrick recalled. “And I said, ‘Sophie, go to bed,’ you know, ‘it’s getting late.’”
The next day, Sophie was gone. Her family reported her missing to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
Investigators later uncovered evidence that Sophie had visited sugar daddy websites and had been in communication with an individual who may have had connections to sex trafficking, Sgt. Geiger told Dateline. Detectives also found Instagram messages between Sophie and a friend discussing prices for sex acts.
However, investigators said they found no evidence that Sophie ever met with anyone from the websites, nor could they prove the individual was directly connected to her disappearance.
Still, Sophie’s family believes she may have been trafficked.
After Sophie vanished, investigators searched her room and discovered a single candle left burning and $300 inside a bag.
Patrick Reeder told Dateline those details made him believe Sophie intended to come home. “But I have no idea where she got that money,” he said. According to Patrick, Sophie did not have a job or large allowance.
Patrick later gave the money to Sophie’s aunt, Kirsten Reeder Milhorn, who has spent years advocating for answers in her niece’s case. She says Patrick told her to do something good with it. “I took that money right to the bank,” Kirsten told Dateline. “I used it to start the foundation.”
Sophie’s Light website
Now, on the ninth anniversary of Sophie’s disappearance, Kirsten is launching Sophie’s Light Foundation, a nonprofit focused on protecting children in digital spaces through trafficking awareness, education, and school-based prevention programs.
According to the foundation, its mission includes:
Identifying predatory behavior on social media and gaming platforms.Educating youth about tactics used to target minors.Teaching healthy online boundaries.Helping students report suspicious activity.And providing resources for parents, educators, and community leaders.
Kirsten is a teacher and believes educating kids about online safety is just as critical as any other subject. “I want to develop an online safety curriculum that can be embedded into the school system,” she said. “I want it to be just like math or science.”
She says the foundation is the first step. “We used to be afraid of candy from strangers. And now it’s digital candy,” Kirsten said. “It’s scary. It’s really scary.”
Kirsten says she will continue to spread awareness about Sophie’s story with the hope that one day the family will finally learn what happened to her.
“We still miss her. We still want her to come home. We still want answers,” she said.
At the time of her disappearance, Sophie was 15 years old with brown curly hair and brown eyes. She stood 5’1”, and weighed approximately 100 pounds.
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for credible information leading to Sophie’s recovery. Anyone with information is urged to call 954-828-6677.