Photo: Facebook
Her mother still has hope.
By Sarah Gangraw — Written on Nov 12, 2018
It’s been 10 years since Danica Childs disappeared but her mother remembers it like it was yesterday as she shares sad news in her latest update to reporters.
Danica was 17 when she went missing from Federal Way, Wash. in 2007. She was talking on the phone with her mother, Dianne Zoro, about Christmas shopping, the last time Zoro would hear from her daughter.
“I was driving home and we were talking [about Christmas shopping] and I got off the phone and realized I forgot to tell her something,” Danica’s mother told PEOPLE of the Dec. 21, 2007 conversation. “So I called her back. It just went straight to voicemail.”
After hours of unsuccessfully trying to get in touch with her teenage daughter, Zoro reported Danica missing.
A federal investigation has been underway for over a decade but Danica is still nowhere to be found. Zoro said she has spent years doing her own research and investigation and believes Danica is a victim of sex trafficking, she told Komo News earlier this year.
Zoro told the news outlet that Danica met with pimps while taking the bus on Highway 99 from Des Moines to Federal Way. She was involved with "the wrong people," her mom said but seemed to be on track with school and work, although she had a history of running away, the Federal Way Mirror reported in 2011.
Messages on her cellphone indicate she was working as a prostitute at the time of her disappearance. Her mother believes this is how her daughter was lured into sex trafficking, an issue she wasn't aware was prevalent in Federal Way.
"It is each and every day 24-7. It's always there," she learned.
Friends said they had last seen Danica at a nearby motel where he purse and jacket were found in one of the rooms.
The June arrest of three sex traffickers involved in the disappearance of 15-year-old Lily Christopherson, who was found safe at a bus stop, has given Zoro hope.
"I so appreciate all the attention her case got, I think it made the difference. I think any child in trouble, needs help," Zoro said.
Still, over a decade has passed and Danica has still not been located. Zoro does her best to keep her daughter’s name in the news, but as the years pass, it gets more and more difficult to stay hopeful.
“The more time goes by it gets hard and harder,” Zoro explained to PEOPLE. “But our family, we try to bolster each other … she’s always been there, she’s always on my mind.”
Danica, who is now 23, is biracial. She is white and black. She may have her ears, navel, and nose pierced and may dye her hair dark brown. She may go by the nicknames Neek or Neeka and ay be in the company of an adult male.
Anyone with information regarding Danica’s whereabouts is urged to call Federal Way police at 253-835-2121 or 911.
Sarah Gangraw writes about all things news, entertainment and crime. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.