Episode 88: The Disappearance of Sofia Mckenna and Spencer Mugford
New London Ledge Lighthouse
At the beginning of Memorial Day Weekend on Saturday, May 26th, 2018, 21-year-old Sofia McKenna and her friend 20-year-old Spencer Mugford planned to paddle out to a lighthouse in Southeast Connecticut later that night.
Sofia and Spencer drove in Sofia’s car to the University of Connecticut Avery Point campus in Groton, Connecticut where Spencer attended school. They parked and grabbed one of the school’s sailboats, a white and blue 14’ sunfish without a mast. The New London Ledge lighthouse was about a mile off the coast, and the two began paddling out towards it.
Video filmed by Sofia on Spencer’s phone showed the two on the boat, and there was a photo taken by Spencer of Sofia at the lighthouse at about 2:00am. When the two weren’t heard from the next day their parents filed missing persons reports. Sofia’s mom discovered several missed calls from 2:05am-2:09am from an unknown number later determined to be Spencer’s.
The hull of the boat washed up on a beach in New York 48 hours later. On June 8th, 2018, a boater found Spencer’s body floating in the water about two miles south of Avery Point. It was determined that he had drowned.
Sofia has never been found. At the time of her disappearance Sofia was 5’9 and weighed 130lbs with brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a grey sweatshirt and has tattoos of the phrase "Thy world is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" on the side of her left foot, the phrase "Searching for the thrill of it" on her ankle, a crescent moon on the left side of her waist, cherry blossoms and a butterfly on the back of her right shoulder, and the zodiac sign for Cancer behind her ear.
Anyone with any information on the disappearance of Sofia McKenna is asked to please call the Connecticut State Police at 860-848-6500.
Image sources:
patch.com - “Sofia’s Army: Desperate Search for Missing Woman, 22, Continues”
dailyvoice.com - “Boyfriend, Girlfriend Go Missing On Long Island Sound”
wtnh.com - “Part of New London Ledge Lighthouse is in the dark”