MoCo Police

Parents of Missing Teen Believe She Was Groomed and Lured Away Via Social Media

The Special Victims Investigations Division of Montgomery County Police is asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing 15-year-old, Sophia Isabella Roach (age 15), who has been missing for over a month now.

“We believe that she was kind of groomed and lured online by somebody, and we’ve got evidence of that from social media,” Mayyasa Roach said in an interview with NBC Washington. “And that, yes, she left, may have been voluntarily, but now she’s been abducted or she is somewhere that we don’t believe that she’s in control of her situation.”

According to NBC Washington, Montgomery County police searched the area near Sophia’s home and found surveillance pictures showing her at the nearby Whole Foods on Executive Boulevard about 9 p.m. July 11. A police press release states Sophia was last seen on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at approximately 9:30 p.m. on the 5600 block of Whitney Mill Way in Rockville. She is 5’2″, brown hair, brown eyes. The clothing she was wearing is unknown.

A GoFundMe has been started by Sophia’s mother’s employer to help raise funds for private investigators, attorneys, and more. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Sophia Isabella Roach is asked to call Montgomery County Police Non-Emergency (301) 279-8000 (24-hour line).