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‘A typical, normal family’ Sports play a big role in the family’s life and healing journey. Last year, Ryland played wide receiver for the Maricopa Junior Rams on the Maricopa High School football field. “The first time we ever saw that was so surreal because my husband was a football player for Maricopa and I played soccer on that field before there was turf,” Robledo said. “It was a really cool feeling being like, ‘Me and your dad played those sports on this field and now you’re following in our footsteps.’” Scarlett plays softball and Maddox plays soccer. “Our weekends are pretty busy,” Robledo said with a laugh. “We live a normal life. We go kayaking, we have quads, we go camping, we go on vacations, just like a typical, normal family.” Ready to be seen by the world After several years away from the media, Robledo returned in 2019, visiting the Maricopa Police Department to read the full police reports and find answers to questions she had avoided.
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featured in People magazine, The New York Post and the U.K.’s Daily Mail. She has appeared on several podcasts, and her story was featured on Investigation Discovery’s show Frenemies. Using her large social media platform, Robledo is now writing a memoir-style book titled She Wasn’t Just a Story. Through her voice, she helps others facing similar struggles. “People want to tell me their story because they don’t feel comfortable enough to tell it to the world,” Robledo said. “I’ve had the privilege of helping people just talk, which makes them feel better, which makes me feel good. “Trauma is trauma, no matter how big or small it is ... It’s been really nice to have people understand me from different perspectives and to also relate to me so much.”
“I understood things that I didn’t know, and I became more open-minded,” Robledo said. She soon realized she wasn’t alone in her experience. When social media apps like TikTok surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, Robledo began sharing her story there. She has since gathered over a quarter-million followers on TikTok and nearly 50,000 on Instagram. “People recognized me on TikTok from the Dr. Phil show,” Robledo said, adding people wanted to hear her side of it. Her TikTok series telling her story has earned millions of views, and she regularly answers viewers’ questions. She described it as learning to shift from victim to survivor. “It’s almost like I took my story, and instead of people feeling bad for me, I empowered myself and made sure that I don’t want to be a victim,” Robledo said. “I’m not a victim, I’m a survivor.” Robledo has connected with other well- known survivors, such as Kara Robinson, a South Carolina teen who escaped a serial killer’s kidnapping in 2002. She’s become part of an online community of violent crime survivors. Her story has reached global headlines —
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InMaricopa.com | August 2025
August 2025 | InMaricopa.com
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