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\u2019t been seen since.<\/p>\n
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Sophie\u2019s family is still searching for answers.<\/p>\n
Dateline covered Sophie\u2019s<\/a> disappearance in Season 4 of the Dateline: Missing in America<\/a> podcast, and spoke with Sophie\u2019s father, Patrick Reeder, her aunt, Kirsten Reeder Milhorn, and Fort Lauderdale Police Sergeant Don Geiger.<\/p>\n Patrick told Dateline he last saw Sophie on the evening of May 19, 2017, before she went to her bedroom around 11 p.m.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was pacing up and down the house. From the front to the back, front to the back,\u201d Patrick recalled. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Sophie, go to bed,\u2019 you know, \u2018it\u2019s getting late.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The next day, Sophie was gone. Her family reported her missing to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Still, Sophie\u2019s family believes she may have been trafficked.<\/p>\n After Sophie vanished, investigators searched her room and discovered a single candle left burning and $300 inside a bag.<\/p>\n Patrick Reeder told Dateline those details made him believe Sophie intended to come home. \u201cBut I have no idea where she got that money,\u201d he said. According to Patrick, Sophie did not have a job or large allowance.<\/p>\n Patrick later gave the money to Sophie\u2019s aunt, Kirsten Reeder Milhorn, who has spent years advocating for answers in her niece\u2019s case. She says Patrick told her to do something good with it. \u201cI took that money right to the bank,\u201d Kirsten told Dateline. \u201cI used it to start the foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Sophie's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-20-at-1-6af7a5.png\")
Sophie’s Light website<\/p>\n