SPOKANE, Wash. – A missing persons case is now a murder investigation. Spokane Police say 60-year-old John Eisenman admitted to killing a 19-year-old and told police the man sold his daughter into a sex trafficking ring.
Warning: This story contains graphic details.
The 19-year-old’s body, later identified as Andrew Sorenson, was stuffed into a car’s trunk. He was discovered by Dane Massie and his friend.
On Oct. 22, Massie said his dogs kept running to an abandoned Honda Accord in a Northeast Spokane neighborhood.
“We decided to go take a look at the car and see what they kept running over there for,” Massie said.
He said the car sat there for at least four days. Massie did not think anything of it since he has seen cars get dumped in his neighborhood in the past.
“The ignition was hanging and it was a strong smell and was like man, it smells terrible,” Massie said. “It smelled like death.”
Massie said there were clothes and books scattered all over the car. He opened the hood and noticed the car did not have a battery in it. His friend went to the trunk of the car.
“He popped the trunk and went oh my god. I was like what,” Massie said. “There’s a dead body in here. I’m like, no way.”
Massie went to the trunk and discovered a body. Massie went inside and told his girlfriend, who called 911. Police surrounded the neighborhood that Friday night.
Andrew Sorenson
The investigation led to the arrest of Eisenman.
A release from Spokane Police said Sorenson allegedly sold Eisenman’s daughter to a sex-trafficking organization in Seattle last year. Eisenman and his fiancee rescued her and brought her back to Spokane in 2020.
In November 2020, Eisenman reportedly learned Sorenson was going to be at an Airway Heights trailer park. Court documents state Eisenman admitted to confronting the 19-year-old, abducting him, ziptying his hands and feet and putting him in the trunk of his fiancee’s car.
Police said Eisenman then hit Sorenson in the head with a cinder block and stabbed him to death.
According to court records, Eisenman told officers he drove the car and abandoned it, with the Sorenson’s body inside, in a remote part of north Spokane County. He told police he removed the battery of the car so no one would drive it.
The car stayed in the area until it was moved nearly a year later to Northeast Spokane near Rochester Heights Park. Police do not believe the driver knew a body was in the trunk at the time.
Eisenman, who has no recent criminal history, nor any violent criminal history, was arrested. He appeared in court Monday and had his bond set a $1 million.
