The Kidnapper's Wife

57. During

Alexis Melissa Sonello

Part One of Recorded Interview

Date: January 11, 2017

Duration: 50 Minutes

Location: Frederick County Sheriff's Office

No. of Pages: 5

Conducted by Officer Brown

Officer Brown: Thank you for taking the time to come talk with me Alexis. I really appreciate it. 

Alexis Sonello: You're welcome.

Officer Brown: And please tell your parents that I really appreciate them finally deciding to let you come chat with us. It could be very, very helpful to us while we try to find Anna. 

Alexis Sonello: Okay.

Officer Brown: Now, your English teacher, Ms......Vashan I believe? She told me that you and Anna Harris were close friends.

Officer Brown: Would you consider Anna one of your best friends Alexis?

Alexis Sonello: Yes.

Officer Brown: How long have the two of you been friends for?

Alexis Sonello: A long time.

Officer Brown: Do you remember when you first met? Can you tell me about it?

Alexis Sonello: We met when we were 8 in elementary school. We were in the same third grade class and the teacher assigned us seats next to each other. 

Officer Brown: Wow, so you guys go way back.

Officer Brown: So, what makes you and Anna such good friends? What do you like about her? 

Alexis Sonello: I don't know, we just have fun I guess. We like the same things. 

Officer Brown: What sorts of things do you both like?

Alexis Sonello: We both like playing tennis. We're both going to try out for....well we hope that Anna's parents will let her....well I mean, I guess now, I don't know.

Officer Brown: It's okay Alexis, you won't get Anna in trouble, in fact, nothing you tell me is going to get anyone at all in trouble. I promise you that we will only use this information to help us find Anna. No one else even needs to hear about what we talked about unless it directly helps us bring Anna home. 

Alexis Sonello: Well like I said, we both liked tennis, and we've been practicing, um, after school sometimes. 

Officer Brown: Don't you girls have other activities you participate in after school?

Alexis Sonello: Yes, but well, our parents don't really know that there's about an hour between school ending and after school activities starting, so during that hour every day we go to the tennis courts and play singles. 

Officer Brown: And you don't think Anna's parents would be okay with that?

Alexis Sonello: No. I mean, they want Anna to do academic extracurricular like National Honor Society, robotics club, debate team, student government, those sorts of things. When Anna asked to play tennis, which is really just one sport, just for two months of the entire school year, it wasn't like she was asking to play sports all year but....her parents said no. They said it wasn't like she was good at tennis, she was never going to get a scholarship and they told her she probably wouldn't even make the team. They told her she has limited time in her day and she needs to make active decisions to focus her time on things that matter. Things that can help her achieve their goals for her.

Officer Brown: And what are those goals?

Alexis Sonello: They want Anna to become an engineer or doctor on a full scholarship to an ivy league school.

Officer Brown: And is that what Anna wants?

Alexis Sonello: No. I mean, Anna is interested in engineering, but she doesn't want to go to an ivy league school, she wants to go to University of Maryland with all her friends. And she wants to be able to study what she's interested in. And she wants to play tennis. 

Officer Brown: Okay, so you girls were planning on trying out for the tennis team behind your parents back then?

Alexis Sonello: Well...my parents were okay with it. They like that I do robotic club and NHS, but they want me to be a kid and do what I am interested in. They talked to Mr. Carter and he told them I could help with the robot after sports or from home, doing coding and things so I wouldn't have to drop robotics club. And NHS is mostly on weekends anyway. My other extracurricular activities are playing the violin, and being in the chorus of the school musical in the fall. Since tennis wouldn't interfere with those anyway, they said I could definitely try out. My dad's even been practicing with me on the weekends. 

Officer Brown: But Anna's parents weren't so open?

Alexis Sonello: No. That's why she had to practice behind their backs. 

Officer Brown: And did she have the same arrangement with Mr. Carter about still being in robotics when she started tennis. 

Alexis Sonello: Yeah. Well kind of. Anna had this plan at...at first. She said that she was going to get really close to Mr. Carter over the summer and try to get him to tell her parents that robotics club was going to take more time from her schedule so that she could drop debate team and student government. She said that the most important extracurricular activity to them was robotics, because of engineering, and so she thought they'd let her drop the other two if they thought she had to in order to stay in robotics club. 

Officer Brown: I see. And how was this plan with Mr. Carter going?

Alexis Sonello: Well....I don't know. At first it was going well, Anna would suck up to him during practice and it seemed like it was working, he was giving her a lot of attention. She got him to tutor her after practice and everything.

Officer Brown: But then did something change?

Alexis Sonello: Well yeah. Anna changed. She never talked about the plan anymore, and when I asked her about it, she would just say that she didn't even know if she wanted to do tennis anymore. Instead of practicing with me after school, she would disappear. Eventually, I figured out that she was going to Mr. Carter's office.

Officer Brown: And how did you find that out?

Alexis Sonello: I followed her one day. She stayed in there for the whole hour before practice. 

Officer Brown: When you followed her and she went into his office, did they have the door opened or closed?

Alexis Sonello: The door was closed. And I heard it lock behind her. Mr. Carter even had up his sign with the little clock that says, "I'm out and about but don't you pout! Before you know it, we can hang out!" and then he had changed the little clock to show the time robotics club started. He only puts up that sign when he's not in the office. Or I guess...usually he does at least.