By Delayna Earley
The Island News
A former Beaufort man was arrested last week in Sumter and charged with the murder of a woman and the kidnapping of her 2-year-old son in 2023.
Jonas Jerry Washington Jr., 26, was arrested by the Sumter Police Department in Georgia, and according to a press release from the department, he is being held locally at the county detention center.
He was serving a sentence for an unrelated charge in Georgia when Sumter police arrested him and brought him back to South Carolina.
Washington faces a murder charge for allegedly killing Sophia Van Dam, who was 20 years old when she was reported missing, and is accused of kidnapping her 2-year-old Matteo.
Van Dam and her son Matteo, from Beaufort originally, were reported missing in Sumter, S.C., by her mother, Theresa Van Dam, of Beaufort, in June 2023, after she had not heard from them for a few days.
Theresa told law enforcement in October 2023 that Van Dam, who was the youngest of five children, was a leader who loved to take charge and make people laugh.
Her grandson, Matteo, was described as full of energy and a lover of the outdoors.
“He just always had a spark in his eye,” Theresa said before adding that she misses watching him grow. “There is an empty hole there.”
Van Dam was living with in Sumter with Matteo and Washington when they were reported missing.
Washington was expected to be arraigned on Tuesday afternoon before Circuit Court Judge R. Ferrell Cothran, Jr. at the Sumter County Judicial Center.
According to Ernest Finney, the Third Judicial Circuit solicitor, the charges were brought against Washington based on evidence that was found at the home that they shared in Sumter.
There is not strong enough evidence that Matteo was killed, but law enforcement believes it allegedly has enough evidence to prove that he was taken from his home without permission, hence the kidnapping charge that was brought against Washington.
The Sumter Police Department along with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spent months searching for Van Dam and her son after they were reported missing.
In August 2023, law enforcement turned their attention to a residence on Rerock Road in Burton looking for connections to Van Dam and Matteo’s disappearance.
The property was the residence of Washington’s father, Jonas Jerry Washington Sr.
In early September 2023, a joint press release among law enforcement entities announced that a multi-agency investigation was continuing as they were “conducting various law enforcement activities throughout Beaufort County” while searching for the missing Sumter woman and her son.
As of Tuesday, June 24, the bodies of Van Dam and Matteo have not been found.
This is an ongoing investigation and any information from the public that could help in the investigation can be submitted to the Sumter Police Department by calling 803-436-2700.
Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC, online at P3tips.com or by using the P3tips app for Apple or Android devices.
Tips can also be submitted to SLED at tips@sled.sc.gov.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
