North Bay police department turns to social media for cold-case clues
SANTA ROSA -- The Santa Rosa police department is using social media to breathe life back into missing-person cases that have gone cold.
The family of Terra Trunick believe she disappeared somewhere near a Santa Rosa shopping center three years ago.
Since then, they've discovered she was last seen in the Forestville area in Feb. 2021. The family just want to know where she is and bring her back home.
Terra Trunick disappeared at age 28. As a child, she was in and out of several foster homes. When she was 15 she found Kim Mapes.
"Terra had a unique ability to make fun happen wherever she was in whatever situation she was in," Mapes recalled.
Mapes fondly remembers the young girl having a big smile and big heart. Trunick was a mother to a boy who just turned seven last October. While she battled drug addiction and was unhoused at the time of her disappearance, Mapes is certain Trunick wouldn't just walk away from her little boy.
"I also don't think that she could've overdosed or something that night and her body never be found. So that brings me back to the conclusion that it was either deliberate or at least the hiding of her remains was deliberate," Mapes said.
This week, the Santa Rosa police department put out a social media post highlighting Trunick's case along with four others.
"Basically the case has gone cold. All our leads have been exhausted and we just need to refresh the case," Sgt. Patricia Seffens said.
An intern suggest the move as a way to keep these cases in the spotlight. One person has already been found and Mapes is hoping Terra will be next.
"What I need to find is that one person -- that one person that knows exactly where we should be looking," Mapes said.
She's fairly certain Terra is no longer alive but can't let go of the tiniest bit of hope she has been holding onto.
"A lot of lives could be restored. She could be put to rest with dignity that she deserves. Nobody gave her that her entire life. In my opinion, the system failed that child so badly," Mapes said.
There is a cash reward offered in the Terra Trunick case. Mapes says that, at this point, she is not looking for justice, just peace.