FAIRBANKS, ALASKA 1993: Sophie Sergie was a first generation college student from a small village in rural Alaska who set her eyes on building a better future for herself and her family. In April of 1993, someone cut that future short.
This case played out on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks over 4000 miles from New England and nearly three decades in the past, but the long arm of justice knows no limits of distance or time. DNA evidence reached across the farthest corners of the United States to implicate the alleged killer of Sophie Sergie. He was working as a nurse in Auburn, Maine.
The 2019 arrest of Steven Downs seemed like the first sign of real closure for Sophie’s family, but as the trial proceedings play out in Alaska Superior Court right now in January of 2022, what seemed like a clear answer on the surface gets more difficult to pin down each day.
This is Part I of Sophie Sergie's story.
View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/sophiesergie
Dark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.
The Suspicious Death of Philip Wendel Boyce (Maine)
The Murders of Audrey Lynn Harris, Christine Dumont, & Stacie Goulet (Rhode Island)
The Murder of Shari Lynn Roth (New Hampshire)
The Murder of Sarah Hunter (Vermont)
The Disappearance of April Dawn Pennington (Connecticut)
The Murder of Ada Bean (Massachusetts)
NEW SEASON: CounterClock Season 6
The Murders of Malcolm, Elizabeth, and Page Jennings Part 2 (New Hampshire)
The Murders of Malcolm, Elizabeth, and Page Jennings Part 1 (New Hampshire)
The Murders of George and Catherine Peacock (Vermont)
The Suspicious Death of Christine Cole (Rhode Island)
The Murder of Rita St. Peter (Maine)
The Suspicious Death of Ashley Turniak (Massachusetts)
The Murder of Rhonda & Cor’an Johnson (Connecticut)
The Disappearance of Ralph Robbins (Massachusetts)
The Murder of Amon Jamiel (Rhode Island)
The Disappearance of Regina Brown (Connecticut)
The Murder of Patricia Scoville (Vermont)
The Murder of Roberta "Bobbie" Miller (New Hampshire)
The Disappearance of John Lango (Pennsylvania)
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