MN MN - Carla Anderson, 23, Wadena, 13 Nov 1987

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Carla Beth Anderson
Missing since November 13, 1987 from Wadena, Minnesota
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Age at Time of Disappearance: 23 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'11"; 80 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair; brown eyes.
Clothing: A brown and orange Hardee’s jacket; pink tennis shoes.
Medical: Mildly mentally challenged

Circumstances of Disappearance

At the time of her disappearance Carla, had just leant that she would be named the employee of the month at her job at Hardee’s. That night she went out to eat with her mother, and stepfather to celebrate. They ate at Taco John’s, and stopped on the way back to Carla’s apartment to pick up a couple of movies she planned to watch that night.

Her parents dropped Carla off that Friday night, and made plans to have Carla come to the cabin the family was building on Sunday to help stain some wood. In return, her mother was going to do Carla’s hair so it would look nice Monday morning for her employee of the month photo. The parents dropped Carla off around 7:30 or 8 p.m. that night, at her apartment at Greenwood Apartments in Wadena, and never saw her again.

Carla had a cup of pop she took with her from Taco John’s, she drank that and she watched one movie. The video cassette was still in the VCR. The pop was consumed.

Nothing was disturbed in her apartment, and only her keys were missing. Her purse was still there. Carla’s brown and orange Hardee’s jacket was also missing from the apartment. Carla’s door was locked from the outside.

A fire burned on the edge of town that night, one that would have been visible from her apartment on the northwest side of the building. One theory is Carla may have grabbed her jacket and keys and walked down to observe the fire up close. From there, someone could have grabbed her.

Another incident that night involved the theft of a car from the neighborhood near where Carla lived. A brown Plymouth Horizon was stolen a couple of blocks from Greenwood Apartments. It was never located.

The police followed every tip. A search committee went out looking to find Carla. A WCCO helicopter was used to search from the air. It was deer hunting weekend when Carla disappeared, and hunters were alerted to be on the lookout for Carla.

Carla's parents think someone Carla was acquainted with came to the apartment and convinced her to leave with him (or them.) The parents remembered two boys who would harass Carla, visiting her apartment and knocking on her windows from the outside.

Her parents did not know Carla was missing until. Monday, 3 days later, when she failed to show up for work. The whole family took polygraph tests, which they passed. The boyfriend was also questioned and cleared.
Foul play is suspected.

Investigators

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Wadena Police Department
Sergeant/Investigator Tom Crawford
218-631-7700

Source Information:
Wadena PJ
The Doe Network: Case File 2460DFMN

LINK:

2460DFMN - Carla Beth Anderson
What confuses me is that her Step Dad & Mom didn't notice she was missing till Monday but she was supposed to be with them on Sunday and have not seen any explanation for this to date. It is such a sad case & am always hoping for justice & answers
 
This case has so little to go on. I think the events that happened that night had something to do with it. It is also strange Carla went to see the police a few days before this about the people who were bothering her. Were they threatening her? I'm curious about the timeline of the events, and how the swamp fire started vs. when her parents dropped her off at home. They never posted much about it. I know this is a longshot, but was Carla's body in the swamp when it caught on fire? Swamps do not just catch fire, someone had to set it on fire. Possibly the person who stole the car used it to leave town afterwards.
Good question
 
She was very tiny for her age. I wonder why her parents did not know she was missing until Mon, if they were supposed to get her Sun to paint the cabin and do her hair for the photo?
Yes, this is my question as well. I read quite some time back that they reported her on Monday after her boss contacted them because she didn't show up for work. There was also a sex offender who was a mgr or something in the group type home she was at just previous to moving into her apt. As I recall that was on the Charley Project under Carla Beth Anderson.
 
Last edited:
Is that anywhere near she was last seen?[/
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/anderson_carla.html[/QUOTE}
I asked my dream to tell me where Carla was and I dreamt about her being in a window front building with a man who was possibly the owner or the boss but as I recall the building was somewhat empty with big windows on the front (I believe I was told that it was to get a new job as recall or something to that effect) and across the street was a Whole Foods. I believe that possibly the Whole Foods being there was just saying to me that this building across the street was a grocery store. My dreams have clues that I have to decifer at times and some are super accurate but not all. I do not live in Wadena so the reason I am sharing this is if this building did actually exist at the time it may be of relevance to this case somehow.
 
Carla Beth Anderson
  • carla_beth_anderson_1.jpg
  • carla_beth_anderson_2.jpg
  • carla_beth_anderson_3.jpg
  • anderson_carla4.jpg
Anderson, circa 1987

  • Missing Since 11/13/1987
  • Missing From Wadena, Minnesota
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 01/15/1964 (55)
  • Age 23 years old
  • Height and Weight 4'11 - 5'0, 80 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A brown and orange Hardee's jacket, a white Pepsi and Mountain Dew sweatshirt with three bears on it, blue jeans and pink sneakers.
  • Medical Conditions Anderson is mildly mentally disabled.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue or brown eyes. Anderson has a half-inch scar over her right eye from stitches.
Details of Disappearance
Anderson was last seen in Wadena, Minnesota on November 13, 1987. She was employed at a Hardee's restaurant at the time of her disappearance. On the day she went missing, she found out she had been named employee of the month at work. She and her mother and stepfather went out to eat at the Taco John's restaurant that evening to celebrate the honor.

After dinner, between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m., Anderson's mother and stepfather picked up some movies for her to watch, then dropped her off at her apartment at Greenwood Apartments.

It has been established that Anderson got safely inside her apartment that evening. She had been carrying a cup full of soda when her parents dropped her off. The empty cup was found in her apartment, and one of the videos she had gotten to watch was found in her VCR.

Anderson did not show up for her morning work shift, which is uncharacteristic of her, as she was exemplary employee. She has never been heard from again. Nothing appeared to be amiss in Anderson's apartment and the only thing missing was her keys.

The apartment door was locked from the outside. The building itself had a security door, but the door had been propped open that night by other tenants who were moving in.

On the night of Anderson's disappearance, there was a fire burning in a swamp on the outskirts of Wadena. She would have been able to view the fire from her window. Authorities theorized she left home to look at the fire up close, and someone attacked her. There is no evidence to support this theory, however.

That same evening, a brown Plymouth Horizon was stolen a couple of blocks from Anderson's apartment building and was never recovered. It is unknown whether the stolen car has any connection to her case.

Anderson's loved ones stated local people sometimes harassed her or attempted to take advantage of her. Although she's mildly mentally disabled, she tried to lead as normal a life as possible and was proud of being independent and having a job and her own home. She also had a boyfriend who lived in Lake Park, Illinois.

Suspected serial killer Floyd Todd Tapson was considered a possible suspect in Anderson's disappearance for a time, but he was cleared from that case after being interviewed by investigators. He is still a suspect in the disappearance of Kristi Nikle, a mentally disabled teenager who disappeared from Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1996.

All the members of Anderson's family have been ruled out as suspects in her case, as was her boyfriend. Her parents both died in 2008. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance, but little evidence is available as to her fate.
Investigating Agency
  • Wadena Police Department 218-631-7700
Source Information
 
  • MN authorities still looking for answers in missing Wadena woman case
Carla+Anderson.jpg

Courtesy: Wadena Police Department's Facebook page
Nov 13, 2019
Wadena, Minn. (Valley News Live) November 13 marks the 32nd anniversary of the disappearance of a vulnerable Wadena, MN woman.

Carla Beth Anderson was 23 at the time of her disappearance in 1987.

She's listed on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension cold case playing cards. Those cards are displayed in nearly 600 police departments, sheriff's offices and county jails around the state.

LINK:

MN authorities still looking for answers in missing Wadena woman case



The cards highlight 52 violent unsolved homicide, missing person and unidentified remains cases from the past 50 years.

If you know anything about Carla Anderson, contact the Wadena Police Department or the Minnesota BCA.
 
Did Carlas parents try to call her Sunday and just blew it off when she didn’t answer? Wonder who these boys were that were harassing her and why? Did she give descriptions of the two boys to her parents? She obviously didn’t intend to be gone long since she left all but her keys behind. MOO
 
Just named employee of the month, Wadena 23-year-old was never seen again | Park Rapids Enterprise

afjLqC4.png

This brown colored Plymouth Horizon may be similar to the model reported stolen the night that Carla Beth Anderson went missing.

That same evening, a brown Plymouth Horizon was stolen a couple of blocks from Anderson's apartment building and was never recovered. It is unknown whether the stolen car has any connection to her case but many believe this to be too much of a coincidence.

“They’ve got to be related, but we just can’t prove or disprove it, yet,” Wadena Chief of Police Naomi Plautz said.

“The one thing that has always stuck with me, that vehicle has never been located,” Wadena County Sheriff Michael Carr Jr. said. “If you were to find that vehicle, you would probably find her.”

Carr remembers Carla going missing while he was a sophomore in high school.

"Still in the back of my mind there is a connection between that car and Carla," Waldahl said. They searched for the car across the region and combed other states.

Wadena Sgt. Brandon Pearson reflected on all the stolen vehicles that they deal with now. Eventually they are found. But 34 years later, this one has not been found. Waldahl suspects it's in a lake or buried in a gravel pit.
 
Carla Beth Anderson
  • carla_beth_anderson_1.jpg
  • carla_beth_anderson_2.jpg
  • carla_beth_anderson_3.jpg
  • anderson_carla4.jpg
Anderson, circa 1987

  • Missing Since 11/13/1987
  • Missing From Wadena, Minnesota
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 01/15/1964 (55)
  • Age 23 years old
  • Height and Weight 4'11 - 5'0, 80 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A brown and orange Hardee's jacket, a white Pepsi and Mountain Dew sweatshirt with three bears on it, blue jeans and pink sneakers.
  • Medical Conditions Anderson is mildly mentally disabled.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue or brown eyes. Anderson has a half-inch scar over her right eye from stitches.
Details of Disappearance
Anderson was last seen in Wadena, Minnesota on November 13, 1987. She was employed at a Hardee's restaurant at the time of her disappearance. On the day she went missing, she found out she had been named employee of the month at work. She and her mother and stepfather went out to eat at the Taco John's restaurant that evening to celebrate the honor.

After dinner, between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m., Anderson's mother and stepfather picked up some movies for her to watch, then dropped her off at her apartment at Greenwood Apartments.

It has been established that Anderson got safely inside her apartment that evening. She had been carrying a cup full of soda when her parents dropped her off. The empty cup was found in her apartment, and one of the videos she had gotten to watch was found in her VCR.

Anderson did not show up for her morning work shift, which is uncharacteristic of her, as she was exemplary employee. She has never been heard from again. Nothing appeared to be amiss in Anderson's apartment and the only thing missing was her keys.

The apartment door was locked from the outside. The building itself had a security door, but the door had been propped open that night by other tenants who were moving in.

On the night of Anderson's disappearance, there was a fire burning in a swamp on the outskirts of Wadena. She would have been able to view the fire from her window. Authorities theorized she left home to look at the fire up close, and someone attacked her. There is no evidence to support this theory, however.

That same evening, a brown Plymouth Horizon was stolen a couple of blocks from Anderson's apartment building and was never recovered. It is unknown whether the stolen car has any connection to her case.

Anderson's loved ones stated local people sometimes harassed her or attempted to take advantage of her. Although she's mildly mentally disabled, she tried to lead as normal a life as possible and was proud of being independent and having a job and her own home. She also had a boyfriend who lived in Lake Park, Illinois.

Suspected serial killer Floyd Todd Tapson was considered a possible suspect in Anderson's disappearance for a time, but he was cleared from that case after being interviewed by investigators. He is still a suspect in the disappearance of Kristi Nikle, a mentally disabled teenager who disappeared from Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1996.

All the members of Anderson's family have been ruled out as suspects in her case, as was her boyfriend. Her parents both died in 2008. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance, but little evidence is available as to her fate.
Investigating Agency
  • Wadena Police Department 218-631-7700
Source Information
At least now I think they have DNA to match up for her. Its tough enough to grow up with any disability and then someone takes advantage of her just as shes trying to navigate her way thru life. Its so sad & wrong.
 
Just named employee of the month, Wadena 23-year-old was never seen again | Park Rapids Enterprise

afjLqC4.png

This brown colored Plymouth Horizon may be similar to the model reported stolen the night that Carla Beth Anderson went missing.

That same evening, a brown Plymouth Horizon was stolen a couple of blocks from Anderson's apartment building and was never recovered. It is unknown whether the stolen car has any connection to her case but many believe this to be too much of a coincidence.

“They’ve got to be related, but we just can’t prove or disprove it, yet,” Wadena Chief of Police Naomi Plautz said.

“The one thing that has always stuck with me, that vehicle has never been located,” Wadena County Sheriff Michael Carr Jr. said. “If you were to find that vehicle, you would probably find her.”

Carr remembers Carla going missing while he was a sophomore in high school.

"Still in the back of my mind there is a connection between that car and Carla," Waldahl said. They searched for the car across the region and combed other states.

Wadena Sgt. Brandon Pearson reflected on all the stolen vehicles that they deal with now. Eventually they are found. But 34 years later, this one has not been found. Waldahl suspects it's in a lake or buried in a gravel pit.
Yes, have they ever done a sonar search?
 

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