Adoptive Parents Speak Out About Kearns Woman’s Abduction

KEARNS, Utah – The adoptive parents of a Kearns woman who was seen on video being forced into a car in broad daylight has spoken out with a plea for help.

Richard and Marilyn Keil were empty nesters when they decided to offer a home to 25-year-old Nicole Solero-Romero and her sisters.

“We love being their parents,” said Richard Keil, their adoptive father.

It wasn’t until their teens that Solorio-Romero and her sisters were taken in by Keil and his wife, Marilyn.

“(We wanted to) help them to have that experience that they should’ve had, but weren’t able to,” he said.

#EXCLUSIVE: "I do worry about what she's going through, like if they have her and they're torturing her…" It's been another day w/ no sign of #missing Nicole Solorio-Romero. Coming up at 6, her adoptive parents help put the pieces together on day of her kidnapping. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/pyHdxfAN4K

— Garna Mejia KSL (@GarnaMejiaKSL) February 12, 2021

The three sisters entered the foster care system after their biological mother was deported to Mexico.

“They have very vague memories about their mom,” said Marilyn Keil. “Their mom hasn’t been back to the United States.”

The girls were separated when the youngest, Juliana, was adopted. Jessica and Nicole bounced around the system for years.

“They are each others’ mother. They are sisters, but they are also the ones that helped each other,” she said.

It wasn’t until the girls met Marilyn Keil, their therapist, that life gave them a hand. Their new parents wanted to give them stability and a loving family.

“They were both going to be placed in yet another – like a group home – and I didn’t want that because they had had so many homes,” Marilyn Keil said. “We talked about it and we decided maybe we could help them. Our kids were all grown.”

On Saturday, Feb. 6, Richard Keil got a call no father wants to hear. Nicole was in danger and there was nothing he could do.

The frantic call came from Juliana, the youngest sister, begging them for help, saying Nicole was taken against her will.

Nicole had called her sisters pleading for help.

“She was crying and saying someone was trying to take her,” Richard Keil said. “They had talked about how Nicole had told her sister that the guys were holding her at gunpoint.”

Richard and Juliana rushed to Nicole’s house but it was too late.

“By the time we got there, there was no one there,” he said.

With time running out, Marilyn and Richard held on to hope that Nicole will be found alive and safe.

“I think about it all night,” he said. “(It’s) not something I want to experience, to not have her come back.”

“I want her to be back and be safe, but I do worry about what she’s going through too – like if they have her and they’re torturing her,” Marilyn Keil said. “Your mind as a mom goes all those places.”

Officials said detectives have zeroed in on the two suspects seen forcing Nicole into a green Toyota Camry. One was seen wearing a white hoodie, but police need help identifying the driver. Investigators believed the suspects were driving a white truck – possibly a newer model Ford – and could be headed to Wyoming.

Anyone who has seen a white truck, possibly with a plow or hauling a trailer with landscaping equipment and trash, to give call police.