Sophia Leeanne Van Dam

• Missing Since 06/22/2023
• Missing From Sumter, South Carolina
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 10/21/2002 (22)
• Age 20 years old
• Height and Weight 5'10, 190 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Sophia disappeared with her son, Matteo, from South Carolina. A few weeks earlier, they had moved from Sophia's boyfriend's home on Wilson Street in Sumpter, South Carolina back in with her mother, Theresa Van Dam, in Beaufort, South Carolina. Before the move, Sophia had told her she was afraid and asked to be allowed to come home.

Theresa last saw her daughter and grandson early on the morning of June 22, 2023. She didn't see either of them when she returned from work, and reached out to Sophia, who responded by text on June 24 and said she was moving back to Sumter.

The texts, according to Theresa, were "crazy stuff" that didn't make sense. Theresa thought she was having a mental breakdown and wanted to take her to the hospital, but Sophia refused. She and Matteo were never heard from again. Sophia's vehicle and Matteo's car seat were left behind at her boyfriend's home in Sumter.

In June 2025, Jonas Jerry Washington Jr. was arrested in Georgia and charged with murder in Sophia's case and kidnapping in Matteo's disappearance. A photo of him is posted with this case summary. He was the boyfriend the pair lived with before they moved to Beaufort.

Investigators stated they found enough of Sophia's blood in the rental home she shared with Washington that it would not have been possible for her to have survived her injuries, and they think Matteo may be dead also, but Washington hasn't been charged with killing him due to lack of evidence. He is awaiting trial in the murder and kidnapping.

Sophia and Matteo have never been found. Foul play is suspected in their cases due to the circumstances involved.