Sofia's Army: Desperate Search For Missing Woman, 22, Continues

GROTON, CT — The first thing Carol Fort does when she wakes up in the morning is check Facebook. She continues to check it all day every time she gets a notification, and she checks it right before she goes to bed, which can sometimes be as late as 4 a.m.

“I try and keep my eyes on it almost 24/7,” Fort said in an interview with Patch.

Fort is not addicted to social media. She is hoping she will find new information about her young cousin, who has been missing since May.

According to a written timeline provided by Fort, 22-year-old Sofia McKenna, who grew up in North Stonington but was living in Groton, disappeared off the Connecticut coast in the early morning hours of Sunday, May 27.

Authorities suspect she and a friend, 20-year-old Spencer Mugford, took either a paddleboard or a kayak out on the water from the University of Connecticut Avery Point campus, as evidenced by a Snapchat photo taken of Mugford and McKenna's car being found on the campus.

See also: Friends, Family Of Missing Boater Urge Everyone To Keep Searching

Various searches for the missing pair were launched, and Mugford's body was recovered nearly two weeks later on June 8. Despite the passage of months, Fort said there are still many questions left unanswered regarding McKenna's disappearance.

“After a while it just seemed like people were forgetting," Fort said. "Nobody was out there looking for her...and [McKenna's mother, Michelle] was so distraught, she didn’t know where to go or what to do.”

After many long weeks filled with questions and few answers, family friend Valerie Mayze decided to help out by creating a Facebook group entitled Finding Sofia McKenna.

“She started this group page so we could coordinate our efforts to find Sofia," Fort said, "to keep her in the public eye so she wouldn't be forgotten, and to help Michelle.”

Fort said she and Mayze monitor the page all day every day, posting any new updates to the timeline of events surrounding McKenna's disappearance and reaching out to followers about ways to spread the story.

They have also reached out to friends of Sofia and Spencer through the page to see if anyone has any small bits of information that might be helpful. Many followers have also offered ideas and ways they might be able to aid search efforts.

“The people involved in the page have been just wonderful with trying to help us," Fort said. “This a strong group of people that really just want to help find Sofia.”

To further keep McKenna in the public eye, the group has made flyers that have been heavily distributed throughout Connecticut, as well as parts of Rhode Island and New York. Members have also been posting on pages like Missing In New England and contacting radio stations and news outlets, asking for help spreading the word.

“We’re contacting anyone really," Fort said. "We don’t want Sofia to be forgotten. Until she is found, however she is found, she is still missing.”

These efforts are not just for McKenna, but also her mother.

“As a mother, I can’t imagine the unknown," Fort said. "The not knowing what happened that night."

As the search for McKenna continues, Fort remains hopeful the combined efforts of those who have joined the group and offered their assistance can result in a miracle.

“Michelle is one woman," Fort said, "but we’re an army; Sofia’s army.”

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Photo credit: Hollie Dziedzic