Two-year-old Matteo Van Dam and his mother, Sophia, vanished from South Carolina after being last seen in June 2023. Sophia had been staying with her mother in Beaufort after leaving her boyfriend’s home in Sumter; Sophia’s mother last saw them early on June 22, 2023. When she returned from work that afternoon the house was locked and all of Sophia and Matteo’s belongings were gone.

On June 24, 2023, Sophia’s mother received nonsensical text messages from Sophia’s phone saying Sophia was moving back to Sumter; after that communication there was no contact. Sophia’s car and Matteo’s car seat were later found at the boyfriend’s residence in Sumter. The family reported them missing to Sumter police on June 28, 2023.

The investigation involved multiple agencies. In June 2025 Sophia’s boyfriend, Jonas Jerry Washington Jr., was arrested in Georgia and charged with Sophia’s murder and Matteo’s kidnapping; investigators reported finding a substantial amount of Sophia’s blood in the home she shared with Washington and believe she could not have survived. Washington has not been charged with Matteo’s murder and neither Sophia nor Matteo have been found. Does anyone who knew Sophia or Matteo have information that could help locate them?