Mother Remembers Last Call With Her Missing Daughter

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

In December 2007, Danica Childs, 17, was excited to make plans with her family to do Christmas shopping together. Soon after, the young woman disappeared in Washington. "I was driving home and we were talking about [Christmas shopping] and I hung up the phone and remembered that I had forgotten to say something to her," recalls her mother, Diane Zoro, about the last time she spoke to her daughter on December 21, 2007.

Zoro told his story to PEOPLE. "I called her back," adds the mother. "And the call went directly to the voicemail box." That was the last time she was able to speak to her daughter. After several hours without being able to speak to her, Zoro called the police and reported her missing.

Authorities initially thought it was a teenage girl on the run from home, but her mother knew something was wrong. The mother says that Danica had some difficulties at her school and at the restaurant where she worked a few months before disappearing, but she saw her happy with her life. Zoro sees no reason for her daughter to run away from home.

While Childs' case has been under investigation by federal authorities for more than 10 years, there are no related arrests. However, the mother fears that her daughter is a victim of human trafficking and is being forced into prostitution.

Authorities informed Zoro that her daughter may have been sexually exploited before she disappeared. Friends told Zoro that they last saw Danica in a motel seven miles from her home, where investigators found her jacket and bag in one of the rooms.

Although almost 11 years have passed, Zoro does not lose hope of seeing Danica again. Each year since his disappearance, Danica's mother and sisters remember him doing something special together, looking at his photos or letting balloons go in the park to see them fly. "The more time passes it becomes even more difficult," admits the mother. "She has always been there, she is always on my mind."

If you have any information on Danica's whereabouts, call the Federal Way Police urgently at 253-835-2121.