EVANSVILLE — It has been more than a year since Andi Wagner, a 24-year-old woman, was reported missing from the Evansville area, but information about her disappearance and the subsequent police investigation remains elusive.
Wagner’s family first reported her missing to the Evansville Police Department on August 12, 2022. At the time, department spokeswoman Sgt. Anna Gray described Wagner as a white woman who weighs about 115 pounds, has brown hair and brown eyes, and was last seen in an orange tank top and jeans.
According to police files, Wagner’s family had not heard from her for nearly a week at the time of her disappearance.
In late July, Gray told investigators at Courier & Press that Wagner was still considered a “missing person,” although the department could not provide more information on its investigation.
“We currently have no updates on this case to share publicly,” Gray stated. “The investigators are continuing to follow up the incoming information and leads.”
Gray asked anyone with information about Wagner’s whereabouts to contact the EPD’s Adult Investigations Unit at 812-436-7979.
What the police records say about the case
According to an EPD incident report, a member of Wagner’s family reported her missing shortly before 10 a.m. on the morning of August 12, 2022. The case’s lead investigator, Detective Jackie Lowe, wrote that he spoke to a family member who said they had not heard from Wagner since August 6, 2022, when Wagner texted.
The incident report lists 11 names and corresponding phone numbers in an “additional list of names” but reveals little else about the investigation.
In March, Courier & Press filed a public record request for a list of all cases that the EPD classified as “unresolved cases”. The list returned by the department also included Wagner’s case, which it classified as “suspicious/missing.”
However, Gray clarified that cases are typically added to the “cold cases” list even if they are still actively investigated, which is the case in the Wagner case.
Shortly after Wagner was reported missing, the EPD said she was homeless and had a history of staying in Evansville and surrounding cities like Newburgh and Oakland City.
Family sets up Facebook group and conducts searches
Wagner’s mother, Elaine Garcia, moved from her home in Texas to the Evansville area after her daughter’s disappearance. In the months that followed, Garcia and others formed the public Facebook group Where Is Andi to raise awareness of the case and coordinate grassroots efforts to find Wagner.
Garcia has also spoken to local media about her ongoing efforts to find her daughter.
On August 25, Garcia told the Courier & Press that she has no insight into the police investigation beyond the public releases of the EPD, although she has communicated with investigators over the past few weeks.
Garcia and others conducted their own search for Wagner, including with the help of rescue dogs, sonar-equipped boats, and volunteers. Just Monday, the Where Is Andi Facebook group posted footage of Brothers Underwater Recovery sniffing ponds and other areas of interest with a K-9.
On Friday afternoon, the group released an update saying it was putting the search for volunteers on hold until professional organizations, including the well-known Texas Equu Search, completed their own investigations in and around Oakland City.
Garcia said the group received several anonymous leads pointing toward Oakland City, which is in Gibson County about 40 minutes north of Evansville.
A public EPD report on Wagner’s disappearance lists the names of several “other” people with ties to the Oakland City area. However, the report does not explain the relevance of these names to police investigations.
“She was a bright and clever young lady,” Garcia told the Courier & Press about a month after Wagner was reported missing. “She is loved and missed by me and her family in Evansville.”
Houston Harwood can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com
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