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The father of a missing Florida teen has shared his chilling theory about her disappearance.
Sophia Cover, 16, vanished from her home in Florida on July 31 - less than two weeks before she was set to return to high school.
She was last seen leaving the family home in Naples, Florida, via surveillance footage at 12:35AM, carrying a bag filled with clothes. She has not been heard from since.
Now, her concerned father Richard Cover has started an impassioned social media campaign to help find his daughter - and he has his own theories as to what might have happened on that fateful day.
Sophia Cover's father Richard has his own theories about what happened on the day of his daughter's disappearance, and he believes she may have been "coerced" into leaving the family home.
Speaking to the New York Post, Richard said that nothing seemed amiss with his daughter in the days and hours leading up to her going missing.
"That’s why I think that somebody convinced her to leave under the false pretenses," he said, admitting that Sophia enjoyed seeking out attention from others and that he "could see my daughter being coerced" to leave the house.
He told the Post: "I think someone has my daughter. That's the best answer."
Following her disappearance, efforts to locate Sophia have been wide-ranging. Collier County authorities have confirmed that they've launched a multi-agency investigation into the case.
Sophia's father is now taking matters into his own hands, taking to social media in an effort to find any more information as to his daughter's whereabouts.
Sophia Cover disappeared from her house in Naples, Florida on July 31.
The last sighting of her was via a surveillance camera in the home, showing her leaving the property at 12:35AM, carrying a bag that contained clothes, a pair of trainers that she loved, and a flatiron pair of straighteners.
Her father discovered she had gone missing at 6:15AM, after being woken by Sophia's 14-month-old dog wailing inside her room. He entered to find no trace of his daughter.
Cover, who lives with his girlfriend and their combined children - which includes Sophia - then checked security camera footage.
Following this, Sophia's father also revealed that a location-sharing app on her phone had been disabled and all calls to her mobile number went straight to voicemail.
The family had recently relocated back to the Florida area five months ago, and Rick Cover says Sophia was glad to be back in the state, and was looking forward to returning to school in two weeks' time.
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A North Carolina teen has mysteriously vanished while visiting family in Florida, just moments after sending a haunting message to his mother.
The New York Post reports that Giovanni Pelletier, 18, disappeared in the early hours of Friday morning, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, after he exited a car traveling along Interstate 75 near SR70 in Englewood, roughly 45 minutes south of Sarasota.
He had been in the vehicle with cousins on his father’s side when he reportedly began acting erratically and suddenly got out of the car and walked off. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
Investigators from both Charlotte County and Brevard County have launched a search, but so far there have been no confirmed sightings. Giovanni’s phone and backpack were found abandoned on the roadside, deepening the mystery and leaving his family desperate for answers, PEOPLE reports.
Giovanni’s mother, Bridgette, 34, told PEOPLE that she woke up to a series of alarming text messages from her son (one even reading: "Help, mom") and missed FaceTime and call attempts, all sent around 2 a.m. When she didn’t respond, he also texted his aunt and father.
She says one of Giovanni’s cousins made a single call to her, but after that, there was no effort from his relatives to update her or return to the house.
Bridgette shared that Giovanni had only recently reconnected with his father’s family. Born in Florida but raised in North Carolina, he had expressed a desire to explore his roots. “He was craving the culture and the background from his dad’s side of the family, and I couldn’t give that to him,” she said.
Since his disappearance, Bridgette says communication with his paternal relatives has been minimal. One message from Giovanni’s grandfather mentioned an altercation on the side of the road between the cousins but offered no further detail.
According to Bridgette, one cousin claimed they were smoking marijuana when Giovanni began panicking and allegedly pulled out a knife, behavior she insists is completely out of character.
Giovanni’s aunt, Desiree, has taken to Facebook and TikTok, urging the public not to assume her nephew ran away. She says Giovanni had been traveling with three boys he had never met in person before.
The family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for a reward and search resources. "Giovanni is smart, kind, and full of life," the page reads. "He didn’t deserve this.”
Giovanni was last seen in a white Chevrolet Malibu, wearing a Carhartt beanie, white tank top, and black sweatpants. He’s about 5’11” and weighs 140 lbs.
Anyone with information is urged to contact local law enforcement, who will coordinate with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
A 12-year-old Florida girl stole her dad's car before picking up a friend and driving across state lines, all to possibly meet a person that she had met online, officials say.
As reported by NBC News, an alert for a missing child was raised on Thursday morning (April 6), after the 12-year-old, along with her 14-year-old friend were last spotted in their hometown of Lake Butler, Florida.
Jade Gregory and Khloe Larson traveled in Jade's father's Ford Taurus toward Louisiana where the person they had allegedly been communicating online with was based.
The pair were seen on Main Street and County Road 237 in Lake Butler after the 12-year-old had picked up her friend from her home.
As per the Daily Mail, the duo made it over 400 miles from Gainesville in Florida to Alabama where they turned themselves in after realizing they were been searched for.
The Union County Sheriff's Office wrote in a statement, via the Mail, on Thursday morning after the girls had been found: "We have canceled our active missing children alert.
"Many thanks to the multiple agencies involved throughout Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana to include the FBI and FDLE [Florida Department of Law Enforcement]. Thank you for all the tips and information received."
The alert which was raised at 11:50 AM was resolved by 4:00 PM, meaning they spent five hours on the road, including driving on interstates.
Officials are exploring the possibility that they were lured to go on the drive by somebody they met online, but this remains unconfirmed.
Chief Deputy Captain Lyn Williams said the department had some information that raised "red flags" about the supposed person that the girls had been chatting to, and the matter has now been turned over to the FBI.
Both girls are now safely at home with their families.
Jay Slater's father has shared a tearful plea as the search for the missing teenager enters its seventh day.
The 19-year-old was reported missing after failing to return to his accommodation in Tenerife following a night out with friends.
Jay had been on his first holiday with friends to attend the NRG music festival, but had decided to stay out with two British men he had met and went back to their rented accommodation.
He was last heard from just after 8am on Monday (June 17) when he phoned his friend Lucy Mae Law to say he was beginning a walk back to where he was staying, telling her his phone battery was running out and that he was thirsty and needed water.
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This was the last contact with the teenager, and it is unclear if he was aware the walk would take around 11 hours.
A large-scale search has been underway for the past week to try and locate Jay, with his parents having flown out to Tenerife after he was reported missing.
His father, Warren Slater, has shared an emotional plea, revealing he hopes that "somebody has helped him off this mountain" after search efforts were concentrated around ravines in the area.
He told Sky News through tears: "That's all I want, that somebody has helped him get off this mountain. I just want him back and that's it. He's my son."
Warren added that the past week has been "a nightmare, just a nightmare," adding: "I just want him back and that's it."
Watch the interview below:
Jay's brother, Zak Slater, was also overcome with emotion as he told reporters: "We don't know where he is, what's happened, or anything.
"I don't know what to say. We just want him to come home safe. I just wish he'd come home."
The pair have been helping with the search in Tenerife, while Jay's mother, Debbie Duncan, has also been awaiting updates on the island.
She told the Daily Mail that she would not be visiting the mountain itself, explaining: "I don't want to go up there in case I see something that I don't want to.
"I'm just hoping everything will turn out for the better. If I went up there I would just break down."
She added: "The last few days have been awful. I just need him back. He is a handsome lad from Lancashire and he shouldn't be missing in Tenerife."
On Saturday, the sixth day of the search, police, firefighters, and rescue dogs reconvened at Rural de Teno Park, the last location logged by Jay's phone.
Debbie shared a message for Jay, who is an apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, UK, saying: "We just need you home - we just need him home."
She told the Associated Press that the family was not "coping" with the situation, saying: "We're not. I'm not coping very well at all. I've not slept, I'm exhausted. It's been awful. I can't give up on him, I just can't."
The devastated parents of missing Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki have opened up about what they think has happened to their daughter.
Konanki, a pre-med student from Virginia, vanished in the early hours of March 6 after going for a late-night swim with 22-year-old Joshua Riibe, a fellow American vacationing in Punta Cana.
Surveillance footage from the RIU República Hotel & Resort captured Konanki and her friends drinking in the hotel lobby before heading to the beach around 4:15AM with two men.
By 4:55AM, her friends and one of the men returned to the hotel, leaving Konanki alone with Riibe.
According to Riibe’s statement to authorities, the two went into the ocean, but the water was rough, and they struggled to stay afloat.
Riibe claimed he managed to pull them both out of the water but passed out on the beach shortly after.
"When I woke up, she was gone," he told investigators.
Her body has never been recovered.
Though he has not been charged with a crime, Riibe has remained a person of interest in the case and was prevented from leaving the Dominican Republic, per NBC News.
His passport was confiscated, and he had been under police surveillance at his hotel since March 6.
On Monday, March 17, Riibe’s lawyer filed a legal request demanding that he be allowed to return to the U.S.
During a court hearing on Tuesday, Riibe testified in his own defense, saying: "I understand I’m here to help, but it’s been 10 days. I want to go home. I want to see my family."
He also revealed that he had met with Konanki’s mother, who hugged him and thanked him for saving her "the first time."
Despite his plea, a judge did not immediately rule on his release.
After 12 days of uncertainty and mounting speculation, her parents have formally requested that Dominican authorities declare her legally dead, per the New York Post.
"It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that we are coming to terms with the fact our daughter has drowned," said her father, Subbarayudu Konanki, from the family home in Chantilly, Virginia.
Initially, Konanki’s family had pushed for authorities to expand their investigation, raising concerns over the possibility of foul play.
However, after consulting with officials from both the Dominican Republic and the United States, they are now convinced that Sudiksha drowned in the rough waters of the Caribbean.
"Both sides of the authorities have shown us how high the ocean waves were at the time of the incident, and both sides of the authorities have clarified the person of interest was not a suspect from the beginning," her father explained.
The family has also expressed trust in the investigation and acknowledged that legal steps must be followed to obtain a declaration of death.
For Sudiksha Konanki’s grieving family, the media attention surrounding her disappearance has made their loss even more difficult.
"We still have two young children to care for, and they’re at a very tender age," her father said.
"In light of this, we respectfully request some space, time, and privacy to focus on healing and helping our children recover as we try to move forward with our lives."
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