Andrea Knabel was last seen on August 13, 2019, in the Audubon Park neighborhood. Since then, her friends, family, Louisville Metro Police, private investigators and a group of volunteers have been searching for information about what happened to her.
On Saturday, the day after her 40th birthday, a group of Knabel’s friends and family gathered near LMPD headquarters to raise awareness about her disappearance.
Knabel’s younger sister, Erin Knabel, handed out flyers for people to post around downtown.
Erin shares a birthday with her sister; they were born three years apart. She says spending her birthday weekend searching for her sister helps make Andrea’s absence a little more bearable.
“Raising awareness for Andrea to help bring her back is one of the few things that makes this somewhat okay, you know just to have a birthday without her because I am used to always celebrating with her,” Erin said. “I was hoping to get her back so that we could celebrate this milestone with her turning 40.”
“We generate leads every time that we get awareness for Andrea. This is how most missing people are found.”
She says social media has been key in the family’s efforts to bring more attention to Knabel’s case.
“Shares on the social media is crucial. Like for anyone who thinks that they don’t know what they can do to help it’s very significant and it makes a big difference every day,” Erin said. “Every time you share it, it causes people to give us information. So please just continue to share until we get her back. ”
Knabel’s family hopes that renewing attention to her case will produce more leads for LMPD to follow.
For Erin, she just wants her sister home safe.
“I just miss her fun personality,” Erin said. “She’s the type of person where I could be having the worst day and you just feel like giving up and she would just say a silly nickname to me or one of my kids and it would just make everything okay.”
After hanging posters downtown, Knabel’s loved ones headed to the Big Four Bridge, where they sang "Happy Birthday" and served cake in Knabel’s honor before walking across the bridge with candles.
Those with information about Knabel’s case can call LMPD’s tip line at 574-5673, or private investigators working with the family at 502-618-9337.
