Fla. Police Consult Psychic in 2017 Missing Teen Cold Case
What to Know
- Fort Lauderdale police have hired a psychic profiler for a 90-day, $1,500 consultancy as investigators continue searching for answers in the 2017 disappearance of 15-year-old Sophie Reeder, one of the city's most high-profile cold cases.
- Sophie vanished after being captured on surveillance video walking along Davie Boulevard late at night; her phone later pinged at a convicted felon's apartment, and investigators have long feared she may have been trafficked.
- Family members welcome any effort that could generate new leads, though they remain cautious about the use of psychics as police continue investigating a case that has received national attention, a reward offer and coverage on "Dateline."
Fort Lauderdale police have hired a psychic to help crack one of their most widely known cold cases — the mysterious disappearance of 15-year-old Sophie Reeder.
The teen, who lived in a waterfront home with her father on Citrus Isle in southwest Fort Lauderdale, went missing in 2017 and would be 24 now..
She was last seen on surveillance camera as she strolled along Davie Boulevard late at night, in high-top sneakers and a leopard-print coat. Her phone later pinged at the apartment of a felon.
Lonely and depressed, she’d been communicating online about working in the sex trade — and police and family fear she might have been trafficked for sex. Adding to the mystery, the date she disappeared, May 19, 2017, was circled on the calendar in her bedroom.
There’s been no sign of her since, no arrests, no breaks in the case.
Family members, who have expressed disappointment over the years with Fort Lauderdale Police Department’s handling of the case, said they were open to the use of a psychic and glad to see any movement toward answers. Though unusual, unorthodox and often a last resort, police departments at times call on psychics to help redirect detectives who’ve looked at the same facts and evidence time and again. The woman hired in this case specializes in helping law enforcement.
A Fort Lauderdale Police Department spokeswoman, Casey Liening, said an investigative team met with “psychic profiler and medium” Alejandra Taborn recently on Sophie’s case and is “actively evaluating the information provided and determining if there’s anything that may assist the investigation.”
Liening said this is not the first time the agency has consulted a psychic in Sophie’s case. Last year, another psychic reached out and offered to help for free, Liening said.
“It did lead to some follow up investigation in a canal and we immediately began conducting an extensive search in the canal and surrounding area,” Liening said in an email. “Unfortunately, this search yielded no results.”
Had vision of a murder
Taborn, 31, lays out on LinkedIn how her life experiences led her to create a training program for police, Sharpen Your Instincts.
At age 20, just before graduating from college, she says, "My boyfriend’s dead brother came to me. I started seeing things, hearing things, feeling things, knowing things about the dead. I thought I was losing my mind.”
Five years later, she says, she had her “first detailed vision of a murder. I saw how she was killed, who did it, and felt the intention behind it.”
Patrick Reeder, Sophie’s father, said he turned to a psychic himself years ago when his daughter went missing, and found it “good but a little hocus-pocus.”
“It’s encouraging that they want to do something, but I would like to see a track record or success stories,” he added.
The Tampa-area psychic said she can’t speak about her work for Fort Lauderdale police and declined to share past successes.
Liening said the agency paid $1,500 for a 90-day consultancy period and might use her on other cases.
“I’ll keep it simple: Psychics don’t solve cases, the police do,” Taborn wrote to the Herald. “I just act as another set of senses alongside theirs, working as an additional investigative tool. The information I sense acts as breadcrumbs, specific, detailed, and directional, for investigative teams to explore and follow.”
Sophie’s aunt, Kirsten Milhorn, said, “If someone, psychic or otherwise, truly believes they have information to help us locate her, we are willing to listen.”
Case featured on ‘Dateline’
Though initially Sophie’s disappearance got little attention from police or media, that changed. Her disappearance became one of Fort Lauderdale’s most publicized mysteries.
Her face has been emblazoned on a billboard, her case was the subject of a “Dateline: Missing in America” episode and countless news reports, and the police department agreed to offer a $25,000 reward for information that leads to her discovery. (Tipsters can email [email protected] or call 954-828-6677.)
National advocates for missing children, particularly children of color, have embraced her case and tried to help. Her aunt created a non-profit, Sophie’s Light Foundation, to teach children how to stay safe online. A Facebook page, Looking for Sophie, helps keep her story alive.
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