Where Are Laci Peterson's Parents Now? A Look at Her Mom Sharon and Dad Dennis Rocha's Lives After Her Murder

Mar. 15, 2025

Sharon Rocha at the San Mateo Court House for the sentencing phase of the Scott Peterson trial December 8, 2004; Laci Peterson in a photo from ‘American Murder: Laci Peterson’. ; Dennis Rocha enters the San Mateo County Superior Courthouse on November 2, 2004 in Redwood City, California.Photo:Tony Avelar-Pool/Getty ; Netflix ; Arleen Ng-Pool/Getty

Tony Avelar-Pool/Getty ; Netflix ; Arleen Ng-Pool/Getty

Laci Peterson’s mom, Sharon Rocha, last spoke to her daughter the day before she went missing — and her family is still recovering over two decades later.

Laci disappeared the day before Christmas in 2002 when she was eight months pregnant. Four months later, her body and that of her unborn child, Conner, were found in the San Francisco Bay in April 2003. That same month, Laci’s husband,Scott Peterson, was arrested, and in November 2004, he was convicted of first-degree murder of Laci and second-degree murder of Conner.

“You betrayed her, your son and everyone else,” Sharon told Scott directly as she faced him during the hearing. “You ended two beautiful souls.”

Two decades after Scott’s sentencing, here’s everything to know about where Laci Peterson’s family is now.

Sharon and Dennis welcomed Laci in 1975 and divorced 2 years later

Dennis Rocha and Sharon Rocha enter the San Mateo County Courthouse to attend the capital murder trial of Scott Peterson August 11, 2004 in Redwood City, California.Bob Pepping-Pool/Getty

Bob Pepping-Pool/Getty

Laci was born to her parents, Sharon and Dennis Rocha, on May 4, 1975, as the younger of two children. Her older brother, Brent, was born in 1971. Dennis was also a father to Amy Rocha, who he welcomed in a separate relationship.

Sharon’s first impression of Scott was wary

Images from the court case of Scott Peterson convicted for killing his wife and their unborn child.Modesto Police Dept/ZUMAPRESS.com

Modesto Police Dept/ZUMAPRESS.com

Laci first introduced Sharon to Scott soon after she began dating him in 1994 while she was a student at California Polytechnic State University. Sharon recalled toThe Modesto Beea phone call in which Laci told Sharon she was convinced she’d found the man she’d marry before they even went on a date.

“Laci was telling me all these things about Scott,” Sharon said. “And I remember saying, as her mother, ‘I hope he’s not filling her with crap.' "

Since then, Sharon said she’s “learned to go with my gut feeling.”

Laci’s parents helped with the search after she disappeared

Laci Peterson and Sharon Rocha in ‘American Murder’.Netflix

Netflix

On Dec. 23, 2002, Sharon spoke to her daughter for the last time. The following day, Laci disappeared. What followed was a manhunt that lasted several months until Laci and Conner’s bodies were found in April 2003.

Four weeks after Laci’s disappearance, Dennis toldThe Modesto Beethat he was living “every parent’s nightmare” and was purposely staying out of the media’s attention because he “shows [his] emotions” and was worried he would say something that would affect the case. He also threw suspicion on Scott, sharing that he believed his daughter’s husband to be lying since he was caught having an affair.

“He was questioned early on, and he said ‘no,’ ” Dennis told the outlet, referring to Scott’s original denial that he had an affair. “Then it came out he had one. It showed he lied.”

Shortly after Laci and Conner’s bodies were found, Scott was arrested.

Sharon testified during Scott’s trial, sharing that when she heard the news of Laci’s disappearance, she ran to East La Loma park in Modesto, where Laci and Scott lived, desperately trying to look for her daughter and screaming her name, perThe Modesto Bee.

She said she saw Scott about “20-30 feet” away, but when she called his name, Sharon recalled that Scott never acknowledged her. Later, while at Laci and Scott’s house, Sharon said she observed Scott standing alone in the driveway.

“I was walking up to give him a hug,” Sharon said. “I felt all upset. His family wasn’t here, and I wanted to console him myself, but I was never able to do that. He kept kind of angling away from me.”

On Nov. 12, 2004, Scott was sentenced to death after being convicted of both murders.

Sharon spoke out in a rare interview about how it was “very hard” to suspect Scott at first

Sharon Rocha during a press conference in Modesto on April 21, 2003.Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty

In 2017, Sharonsat down for a two-hour ABC special,Truth and Lies: The Murder of Laci Peterson, where she shared that it was “very hard” to believe Scott could murder her daughter after having a close relationship with him during his marriage to Laci.

“I mean, it’s not like this is a total stranger that you might be suspecting,” she said. “This is somebody that’s been a member of your family for several years now, and it’s really, you know, the back and forth and the guilt about feeling this way, and how it may have an effect on the relationship with my daughter if I’m wrong.”

Sharon continued, “That’s the last person you want to think had anything to do with the disappearance of your daughter — her husband. 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.”

Dennis died in 2018

Dennis Rocha leaves the San Mateo County Courthouse for the afternoon session break on day 1 of the Scott Peterson trial on June 1, 2004 in Redwood City, California.Debbie Noda-Pool/Getty

Debbie Noda-Pool/Getty

In 2018, both Laci’s father, Dennis, and stepfather, Grantski, died. Dennis was on good terms with Sharon and Grantski, even praising the latter at his funeral service in April 2018.

“Laci loved her dad, and now they will be together again,” Sharon toldThe Modesto Beedays after Dennis’ death on Dec. 9, 2018, at 72 years old.

While Dennis was more private during Scott’s trial, he attended when he was able and cried when the graphic photos of Laci and Conner’s remains were shown to the jury.

“He was a very kind and loving-type person,” Brent said of his father. “He was always very affectionate and loving toward us.”

Sharon accused Scott of betraying Laci at his resentencing

Sharon Rocha enters the San Mateo Court House for the sentencing phase of the Scott Peterson trial on December 8, 2004 in Redwood City, California.Frederic Larson-Pool/Getty

Frederic Larson-Pool/Getty

In 2021, Scott’s sentence was changed from death row to life in prison without parole. Laci’s family confronted Scott in court again at his hearing, not sparing any words as they looked him in the eye and told him how they felt nearly 20 years after Laci’s disappearance.

“All the while we were there that evening you were already planning her murder,” Sharon said to Scott. “That evening was the last time I saw my daughter alive.”

“Two things will never change,” she told Scott. “Laci and Conner will always be dead and you will always be their murderer.”

Laci’s family felt “relief” after Scott was denied a new trial in 2022

Scott Peterson during a hearing at the San Mateo County Superior Court in 2022.Jeff Chiu/AP

Jeff Chiu/AP

Shortly after his resentencing, Scott’s lawyers pursued a new trial for the convicted murderer, alleging that a juror in the case lied about denying being a victim of a crime before. However, in December 2022, a judge ruled that the juror’s misstatements were honest mistakes anddenied Scott the trial.

A source who is close in contact with Laci’s family told PEOPLE that the ruling was a “tremendous relief.”

“This is the best news we could’ve gotten,” they said. “It really felt like next year was going to be very difficult, reliving the whole thing yet again. Now that’s not going to happen. This was the best Christmas gift ever.”

Sharon is making an appearance in the Netflix documentary about Laci’s murder

Sharon Rocha leaves the San Mateo Superior County Courthouse after a delay in the Scott Peterson trial August 18, 2004 in Redwood City, California.Richard Koci Hernandez-Pool/Getty

Richard Koci Hernandez-Pool/Getty

Sharon sat down with Netflix for her first docuseries appearance in August 2024, over 20 years after Laci went missing. Ahead of the show’s release, Sharon spoke with PEOPLE about her continued assuredness of Scott’s guilt, despite his pursuit of a new trial topresent evidence of his innocence.

“He is guilty, and that’s it. Bottom line,” she said. “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.”

When the docuseries was released, director Skye Borgman toldForbesthat she didn’t think Sharon wanted to participate at first.

“She’d like to remember Laci the way she remembers Laci and it’s hard to revisit this case,” Borgman said. “It’s hard to sit in front of a camera and talk about it 20 years later. The fact Sharon was able to do it and wanted to do it and wanted to share Laci with the world in her perspective, in her own words, was brave and wonderful.”

source: people.com