Where Is Laci Peterson’s Mom Sharon Rocha Today? Inside Their Relationship Before Laci’s 2002 Murder

It’s been more than two decades since Laci Peterson was senselessly murdered — but the passing of time never made it easier for Sharon Rocha, Laci’s mother. Sharon has continued to be an advocate for her late daughter after Laci’s husband, Scott Peterson, being found guilty of first- and second-degree murder of his wife and unborn child, whom they planned to name Conner.

Sharon appeared in the Netflix documentary American Murder: Laci Peterson, which premiered in August 2024.

Sharon Recalls the Last Time She Saw Laci Alive

In 2017, the California native opened up about the final moments she shared with her daughter and unfortunately, it wasn’t the happiest.

“She and I were sitting side-by-side and Scott was sitting on the floor, and we were watching TV and she said the baby was kicking, so I put my hand on her stomach, because I’d never felt him kick. I still didn’t feel him kick even when she said that,” Sharon said in the documentary Truth & Lies: The Murder of Laci Peterson at the time. “But she leaned over to me and she said, ‘Mom,’ she said, ‘Scott doesn’t like to do this.’ She said, ‘I’ve asked him about, you know, feel my stomach when the baby kicks, and he never wants to touch my stomach.’ That really, really bothered me. And that was the last time I saw her.”

Sharon Reacts to Scott Murdering Laci

Since Scott was sentenced to death in 2005, Sharon has mostly remained out of the spotlight — save for interviews about her daughter, and political reform that she’s been active with. In 2012, she explained that given her daughter’s Christmas Eve disappearance, the holidays mark an especially difficult time — but her many grandchildren make it a little easier. She explained at the time, “If it weren’t for the grandkids, though, I wouldn’t have a Christmas.”

However, in the 2017 documentary, Sharon admitted to feeling “guilty” for allowing her daughter’s murder to be a part of their family.

“That’s the last person you want to think had anything to do with the disappearance of your daughter — her husband,” she said. “The person that was a member of your family, somebody that you loved and cared about, and thought he felt the same way about your daughter. And knowing how she felt about him.”

In August 2024, Sharon slammed Scott for continuing to claim his innocence in Laci’s murder during an interview with People.

“When I first met Scott I thought he was a very nice person. But his behavior from the very first moment I saw him after Laci disappeared didn’t seem right,” she admitted to the outlet. “And after learning about his relationship with Amber Frey, I no longer had any doubts. I knew Laci wasn’t coming home, and that Scott was responsible.”

She later added, “He is guilty, and that’s it. Bottom line. Something I’ve never said publicly was how Scott — who would never take a polygraph test — never actually denied killing Laci to me. The one statement he said to me was, ‘I didn’t hurt Laci.’ When he was convicted, it was a relief. It wasn’t joyful or a celebration. He was going to prison as he should be.”

In August 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Scott’s death sentence, and he was resentenced to life in prison without parole.