SPANAWAY, Wash. — It has been one year since family members saw Rio Boyd before she disappeared.
Boyd, age 21 at the time she went missing, was last seen on Oct. 17, 2022.
She was believed to be walking to a friend's house in Spanaway, but she never arrived. Later that night, her cellphone was found on the side of the road near Field Road and Mountain Highway, not far from her home.
"She was a very supportive friend," said Naomi Welch. "She was one of those friends that I could trust with my life."
Welch and Boyd met when they were teenagers.
"She was my best friend," Welch said. "She was somebody who was very important to me that I didn't really realize it until after I had found out that she was missing. And [it] just kind of, like, broke me."
Welch found comfort in a Facebook group titled "Rio Boyd Missing From Spanaway, Washington," which is dedicated to finding answers to Boyd's disappearance. With over 1,500 people in the group, Welch said she knows she isn't alone in the search.
"It makes me feel happy for her knowing so many people care and so many people are loved by her and how much joy and happiness she had brought into other people's lives," Welch said.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Department is investigating Boyd's disappearance. Welch is hoping someone can come forward that will lead family and friends to answers.
"She is not somebody to give up on. She's somebody that everybody deserves to have in their life. She's a good human being," Welch said. "And she deserves to be found."
Anyone with information about Boyd's disappearance is urged to contact Pierce County Sheriff's detectives at 253-798-7530.