Overview
More than nine years after 15-year-old Sophie Reeder vanished from her Fort Lauderdale, Florida, neighborhood, investigators are trying an unusual tactic: consulting two psychic profilers for possible leads. The move has drawn skepticism from the missing teen’s family, who say police should focus on concrete investigative steps — including a larger reward — rather than what they view as a speculative approach. Still, Fort Lauderdale police say they are willing to try “new and unique” methods in a case that has remained stubbornly unresolved despite years of attention and national coverage.
What Happened That Night
According to police records and family accounts, Sophie disappeared in the early hours of May 19, 2017 after leaving her home in the Citrus Isle area of Fort Lauderdale. Her father, Patrick Reeder, said he had seen Sophie moving around the house on her phone and told her to go to bed, believing the night was ending normally. “It turns out she didn’t go to bed,” he told CNN. “She left.” Surveillance footage later showed Sophie walking along a neighborhood sidewalk around 11:30 p.m., and in a separate video she appears alone on Davie Boulevard after 2 a.m., wearing headphones and walking along a largely empty road.
Last Known Trail and Person of Interest
Records tied to Sophie’s phone and Google account placed her last known location at an apartment complex less than two miles from home, according to a 2017 police affidavit and search warrant application. That complex was associated with Leonard Jennings, then 37, a convicted felon whom Fort Lauderdale police have described as a person of interest, not a suspect. Police say they believe Sophie had contact with Jennings the night she disappeared. The affidavit also shows Sophie’s last phone call was to Jennings’ number at 3:07 a.m., just as she arrived near the complex. After that call ended, her phone continued to transmit signals, though the publicly available material does not indicate what investigators learned from the device afterward.
Family Frustration Over the Psychic Search
For the Reeder family, the decision to bring in psychics has been difficult to understand. Patrick Reeder told CNN, “I just don’t get it. A psychic?” His sister, Kirsten Milhorn, called the effort “a misallocation of resources,” arguing that a higher reward for credible tips would be more useful. Their criticism reflects a broader tension familiar in long-running missing-person cases: families want visible, evidence-based action, while investigators sometimes turn to unconventional leads when traditional avenues have gone cold. Sophie’s disappearance has already been the subject of national attention, including features on NBC’s “Dateline: Missing in America” podcast and a 2021 episode of “In Pursuit with John Walsh.”
Why Police Are Trying It Anyway
Fort Lauderdale police said they rarely reach outside law enforcement in active criminal cases, but in Sophie’s case they are open to alternatives. “Traditionally, FLPD does not consult anyone outside of law enforcement on ongoing criminal cases,” a department spokesperson said, “however, in Sophie’s case, our department is willing to try new and unique approaches for any chance at uncovering new information.” One of the psychic profilers involved, Alejandra Taborn, defended the effort as low-risk, saying, “what else do you have to lose?” While there is no solid evidence that psychics can solve crimes, some agencies have long considered them when conventional leads run dry — a practice that continues to divide investigators, families, and the public.
