WADENA, Minn. (FOX 9) - Authorities announced a $25,000 reward for new information in the cold case disappearance of a Wadena woman who has been missing for nearly 39 years.
Search for Carla Beth Anderson
The backstory:
Carla Beth Anderson was last seen in Wadena on November 13, 1987.
According to the Charley Project, she was a Hardee's worker and went out with her family to celebrate being named employee of the month at work. After dinner, between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., her family dropped her off at the Greenwood Apartments where she lived.
Police say they were able to determine that she made it safely back inside her apartment because a cup and a videotape she was carrying were found inside her apartment.
Local perspective:
However, the next day she never showed up for work, which was uncharacteristic for Anderson. She has never been heard from since. According to investigators, her apartment did not appear to be disturbed and the only things missing were her keys and her Hardee's jacket.
Authorities do suspect foul play in her disappearance, according to a post on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Carla Beth Anderson (Supplied)
Dig deeper:
Anderson was 23 years old when she disappeared. She was slight in stature, just 4-feet-11-inches tall and 80 pounds. She had blonde hair, blue or brown eyes, and a half-inch scar over her right eye from stitches.
She was last seen wearing a brown and orange Hardee's jacket, a white Pepsi and Mountain Dew sweatshirt with three bears on it, blue jeans, and pink sneakers.
Anderson suffered from a slight mental disability.
Reward being offered
What's next:
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety and the Wadena Police Department held a news conference on Monday with members of Anderson's family to announce a new reward in hopes of sparking new leads in the disappearance.
"We have pursued, re-examined, and exhausted hundreds of tips and leads," Wadena Police Chief Naomi Plautz said. "But someone knows what happened. Someone knows."
Anderson's family says nearly 40 years have passed and Anderson's parents are now gone. But, Anderson's brother Dan says that rarely does a day pass that they don't think about Carla.
"We miss her a lot… Not hardly day goes by that we don't think about her," Anderson said.
"It's sad that you know people like my mom and her stepdad Vern, they're not going to get to see the closure on this while they were still alive," Anderson added.
Dan Anderson said Monday that he hopes that the new reward can bring tips that can bring about a resolution to the disappearance.