Father of 16-Year-Old Sofia: Someone Talked Her Into Leaving
Richard Kaver told the New York Post he suspects someone lured his daughter away from their Florida home. The dog was whimpering in a locked room, and her phone soon went dead.
Richard Kaver told the New York Post he suspects someone lured his daughter away from their Florida home. The dog was whimpering in a locked room, and her phone soon went dead.
Surveillance footage captured 16-year-old Sofia Kaver leaving the family home in Naples, Florida, at 12:45 a.m. on July 31, 2026, carrying a bag. Since that moment, there has been no trace of the girl, and her father, 54-year-old Richard Kaver, is convinced that someone lured her away with false promises.
Kaver was awakened around 6:15 a.m. by the sound of Sofia's 14-month-old dog whimpering in her room. After knocking several times and getting no response, he realized the door was locked-a detail that immediately raised his suspicions. According to her father, the bag she took contained a fair amount of clothing, a new pair of Nike sneakers she loved, and a hair straightener.
He woke his partner in a panic, describing her reaction as: "She jumped as if she'd seen a ghost." The couple then reviewed security camera footage and saw Sofia leaving the house in the early morning hours.
Adding to the concern was the fact that the app Sofia used to share her location had been deactivated, while calls to her phone went straight to voicemail. "That's why I think someone convinced her to leave under false pretenses," her father told the New York Post, expressing his suspicion that someone is holding his daughter.
"I think someone is holding my daughter. That's the best answer I can give."
The Kaver family, which has four children, had returned to Florida five months earlier, and Sofia, according to her father, was excited about the upcoming school year, which was set to begin in less than two weeks. "There was no issue that would make her not want to be here. There was no problem with her not liking where she lives," Kaver said, dismissing the possibility that his daughter left voluntarily.
Collier County authorities have launched an investigation involving multiple agencies, while Richard Kaver has simultaneously begun his own search, both online and in the local community, hoping to find any clue that might shed light on the mysterious disappearance of his daughter.
