Sex-trafficking claims made by Spokane father accused of killing 20-year-old not corroborated by Spokane police

More than a week after a Spokane father was arrested on suspicion of killing his teen daughter’s boyfriend, who he said sex trafficked her, little is known about the veracity of his claims.

John B. Eisenman, 60, remains in the Spokane County Jail on a $1 million bond.

Eisenman told police last week that he killed his daughter’s boyfriend, Andrew Sorensen, 20, for allegedly sex trafficking her. Sorensen’s family called Eisenman’s claims “hurtful” and urged the public to “withhold judgment” until the case has been adjudicated.

Sorensen’s body was discovered in mid-October when residents near Rochester Heights Park noticed an abandoned car on their street. People rummaged through the unlocked 1991 green Honda Accord before noticing an odd odor and popping the trunk to find a body.

They called the police, who arrived a short time later and began investigating.

The owner of the car, Brenda Kross, and her fiancé, Eisenman, told police the car had been stolen about a year prior.

Not long after, police received an anonymous tip that Eisenman had confessed to a neighbor that he killed his daughter’s boyfriend and hid the body in the trunk of a car, according to court documents. The tip included details only someone involved in the crime would know, police said.

Eisenman was arrested on Oct. 29. He confessed to police he killed Sorensen after rescuing his young daughter from forced prostitution in Seattle, that he says Sorensen sold her into.

Sorensen was never arrested or named a suspect in any sex trafficking investigations by the Spokane Police Department, according to a public records request.

A spokesperson for the department, Cpl. Nick Briggs, said all the allegations of sex trafficking are coming from Eisenman.

“We can’t corroborate the veracity of any of those statements,” Briggs said.

Briggs urged the public to wait for the facts of the case to come out before jumping to conclusions.

Sorensen’s family declined multiple times to speak with The Spokesman-Review but, in a statement to KHQ, refuted the allegations that he had been involved in sex trafficking.

“Claims by his confessed killer have been very hurtful and only added to our family’s grief,” the statement reads.

The family said Sorensen was adopted out of foster care and had several disabilities, including cerebral palsy, autism and developmental delays.

“Our family has been especially compassionate and loving towards him for these reasons,” the statement reads. “He was extra special to us all.”

While police cannot corroborate Eisenman’s statements, they did have multiple contacts with his daughter in the weeks before Sorensen went missing. The Spokesman-Review is not naming the daughter – who is now an adult – due to the possibility that she is a victim of sex trafficking.

She was involuntarily admitted into Providence Sacred Heart on Oct . 23, 2020, about a week before Sorensen was reported missing, according to police records.

Two days later, police were called to the hospital to pick up a sexual assault kit but, after about an hour at the hospital, the officer noted that no sexual assault kit was done and cleared the call, according to police records.

Three days later, hospital staff again called police to report that Eisenman’s daughter threatened to kill Sorensen, as well as her parents, according to police records. The daughter wasn’t arrested for the threats, according to court records. The Spokesman-Review is awaiting further records requests related to the Eisenman family’s claims.

Kross, Eisenman’s fiancée and the girl’s mother, said in an interview that her daughter has been homeless in Arizona for the last year and is dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder from the sex trafficking.

Since Eisenman’s arrest, his story has gone viral with news outlets, blogs and TikTokers globally picking up on the case.

One TikTok account, @sarahmarieblair, has garnered nearly 5 million views on her video promoting a GoFundMe in support of Eisenman.

The family initially set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for Eisenman’s bail, but the company removed the fundraiser. The family then created a fundraiser on GiveSendGo, a platform that bills itself as the “#1 Free Christian Crowdfunding Site.”

They have raised nearly $60,000.

“We can use any and all support,” Kross said.

Eisenman has no significant adult criminal history, but he did have a run-in with police about two months after he says he killed Sorensen.

In December 2020, Eisenman was driving a red 1988 Honda Civic with Montana license plates near Sharpe Ave. and Ruby St. just before 4 a.m., when a police officer noticed the car had been listen as stolen.

The officer pulled Eisenman over. Eisenman told police his longtime friend had loaned him the car about two weeks prior while his vehicle was being fixed.

He told police he had seen a bill of sale for the car dated earlier that month but didn’t know where it was now. Police said they didn’t have enough probable cause to arrest Eisenman and released him. His passenger, Sean Schmidt, had an open warrant and was arrested.

When police searched Schmidt, they found a small baggie containing methamphetamine, according to police records.

Police said the investigation into Sorensen’s killing is ongoing.