New Details Revealed in Case of Missing Mother of Two

Andrea Knabel in two file photographs recently released by police. Louisville Police Department

The family of a missing Kentucky mother announced it was raising the reward for information leading to her whereabouts as a private detective working on the case revealed new details.

The family of Andrea Knabel said the reward was raised from $1,000 to $5,000. Mike Knabel, the missing woman’s father, said relatives hope the more substantial reward will lead to the finding of his daughter.

Police said Knabel was last seen walking near the Audubon Park neighborhood in Louisville around 1 a.m. on Aug. 13.

The Clarksville Police Department in Indiana said on Oct. 1 that it received information Knabel was seen in the area and asked anyone with information to contact the police. Another sighting in Clarksville was reported later in October, but she has still not been found.

A private investigator working the case for the family, meanwhile, took to Facebook to give updates on what he’s found.

Tracy Leonard said Knabel went to a McDonald’s on Aug. 12 with her sister’s boyfriend and nephew. She was later taken to a hospital, Kentucky One health Medical Center Jewish East, for treatment for “injuries to her face allegedly from some type of infection.”

Knabel took a Lyft from the hospital to her mother’s house in Audubon Park around 11:22 p.m., arriving about 12 minutes later. Knabel was living there with her sister, Sarah, and Sarah’s boyfriend, Ethan Bates.

Just after midnight, Knabel walked about a mile to the house of her other sister, located on Fincastle Road, according to Leonard. After an argument broke out there, Knabel began walking back to her mother’s house. Something happened there that Mike Knabel described to the Louisville Courier-Journal as “some rejection” that prompted Knabel to walk away. That’s when she disappeared.

Leonard said Knabel’s phone was active at her house on Chickadee Road at 6:31 a.m. on the day she vanished.

Leonard also said the investigation had included a lot of work.

“There are over 100 persons of interest, and we have been going down the line,” Leonard said. “Two months is a long time; I'll tell you that, on any type of investigation. We don’t believe that she does have her phone.”

Leonard said Knabel has not used her bank accounts since disappearing. He urged anyone who thinks they see Knabel to call the police and keep her in their sights until officers arrive.

The length of the disappearance has family members increasingly worried, Mike Knabel told the Courier-Journal.

The fact that she has been away from her two boys this long “leads us to worry even more that she’s not just hanging out somewhere,” Mike Knabel said.

He said he didn’t know why she vanished.

“She had some issues like all human beings do, and we didn’t think any of them were something she couldn’t overcome,” Mike Knabel said.