By Khalida Sarwari
Salinas police early this morning arrested the son of a 71-year-old woman who has been missing since last week and who investigators suspect he may have killed.
Janet “Nene” Sorenson was last seen at her home in the 1600 block of Atherton Way in Salinas on the morning of Dec. 7, police said.
Since then, Sorenson has missed appointments, which those who knew her said is unlike her, according to police.
Earlier this week, officers conducted a welfare check on Sorenson on a request by friends and neighbors who were concerned about her.
While they did not locate Sorenson at her house, they didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. The officers continued to check on the residence over the next two days, but found no changes.
Salinas detectives investigating Sorenson’s disappearance learned through interviews that Sorenson has a 29-year-old son named Christopher who sometimes lived with her.
Witnesses told police they saw Christopher Sorenson leaving his mother’s home on Dec. 9 in a 2000 Mazda minivan registered to his mother. That vehicle was missing until just after midnight today, police said.
Monterey police officers found the van near Jack’s Peak County Park in Monterey with Christopher Sorenson asleep in the back of the van, according to police.
The officers impounded the van as part of a search warrant for the residence and took Christopher Sorenson to the Salinas Police Department for questioning.
He was eventually booked into Monterey County Jail on suspicion of homicide, police said.
Investigators said it appears that Janet Sorenson was killed based on the circumstances of her disappearance and evidence found in multiple locations, although her body has not been found.
Anyone who may know the whereabouts of Janet Sorenson or saw Janet or Christopher Sorenson or the minivan in the last week is asked to call the police investigations division at (831) 758-7226.
