Police find no crime connected to kidnapping report by Sonoma County ’mom influencer’

Police say they have found no evidence that a crime was committed following an investigation into claims made by a Sonoma County ’mom influencer’ that a couple attempted to kidnap her two young children at a Petaluma shopping center.

The woman, identified through her social media accounts as Katie Sorensen, made the allegations in a pair of viral videos posted to her Instagram page earlier this week. Sorensen said an unknown man and woman followed her and her children into the Michaels craft store on North McDowell Boulevard before the couple tried to abduct her son and daughter in the Redwood Gateway Shopping Center parking lot.

In a Nixle alert, Petaluma police said they interviewed the couple, who denied Sorensen’s claims.

“To date, the investigation has produced no evidence or witnesses corroborating the account provided by the reporting party,” police said in the alert. “Evidence gathered has served to support the account provided by the couple from the store.”

The investigation is now closed, unless police receive any new evidence.

Police had been investigating Sorensen’s report as a case of “suspicious circumstances,” noting inconsistencies between her initial account to officers of the incident on Dec. 7 and what she later alleged in the videos. In the viral clips, police said she made new claims that the man who followed her tried to grab her double stroller while she was putting one of her children into her car.

Police then interviewed Sorensen again on Monday. She told authorities she would testify to the additional accusations, and that she wanted the couple prosecuted, police said.

By Monday afternoon, the social media videos had garnered about 4 million views combined before they were removed that evening. They were replaced with a note saying they were deleted to protect “my family and the integrity of the ongoing investigation.”

The videos and Sorensen’s claims have since gained widespread attention, with national and international publications including Buzzfeed News and the Daily Mail covering the story.

As of Friday, Sorensen’s Instagram account and her website appear to have been taken down or set to private.

Sorensen could not immediately be reached for comment.

Zahyra Garcia, a community organizer for activist group Indivisible Petaluma, identified the couple as Eddie and Sadie Martinez. Garcia said the Martinezes are longtime Petaluma residents with five children.

Garcia described the allegations made by Sorensen, who is white, against the Martinezes, who are Latino, as an instance of racial profiling. She pointed to an interview Sorensen gave to KTVU Fox 2, during which she said the Martinezes “didn't look necessarily clean-cut.”

“This has been crazy, but also nothing unfamiliar in Petaluma,” Garcia said.

Indivisible Petaluma planned to hold a news conference to announce a “Prosecute Katie campaign” in front of the Michaels store on Friday afternoon. Garcia said the Martinezes, who are affiliated with the activist group, will be at the event.

Petaluma police did not immediately respond to calls from a Press Democrat reporter.

You can reach Staff Writer Ethan Varian at ethan.varian@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5412. On Twitter @ethanvarian