April Susanne Wiss, 16, disappeared from Wichita, Kansas before she was to testify in a felony criminal trial.
truecrimediva.com
August 25, 2021 Updated July 2, 2023 (I edited this article a lot, so click the link to read the whole thing)
WICHITA, Kan. — At 16 years old, April Susanne Wiss was a typical teenager desperate for liberation.
Born on Sept. 1, 1983, Wiss grew into a tall, rebellious, fiercely independent teenager. Her mother, Gloria “Dee” Clasen, has said in recent years that Wiss did not want to abide by the rules and “did what she wanted.”
Wiss, 16, was treading down a dark path, so Clasen arranged for her daughter to live with a friend at River Walk Apartments on Marion Road for a few months to experience living independently. The arrangement was going well, and Wiss seemed generally happy with it.
But, what came next, Wiss’ family never saw coming.
On Jan. 11, 2000, Wiss left her apartment wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a navy blue nylon jacket. Her friend saw Wiss walking toward Pawnee and Broadway between 10 and 10:30 p.m.
Wiss took her wallet, pager, and apartment key with her, leaving the lights and TV on and a freshly baked cake in the kitchen. Wiss left behind $150 and the rest of her belongings.
By all appearances, Wiss had every intention of returning home. She has never been seen again.
Wichita police initially considered Wiss ran away to avoid testifying but now believe she disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Clasen thinks someone abducted her daughter, possibly for human trafficking.
Wichita is a large metropolitan area with nearly 400,000 people, and like any large city, human trafficking occurs here. According to
KAKE, “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says a recent human trafficking operation in Wichita, Independence, Missouri, and Kansas City, Missouri, resulted in the rescue of 31 victims of human trafficking — including 14 missing children — for sexual exploitation.” Officials were preparing to charge 82 suspects with multiple crimes at the time of the article, including commercial human trafficking and sodomy.
The reality is that trafficking exists, and that could be what happened to Wiss.
There might be another explanation for Wiss’ disappearance, and it is not any less frightening.
A Feb. 5, 2000 story in The Wichita Eagle stated that Wiss was a key witness in a felony criminal trial scheduled to begin on Monday, Feb. 7, 2000, nearly a month after she vanished. The case was about a year old and still under investigation when Wiss disappeared, according to The Eagle. Clasen said Wiss reluctantly agreed to testify. Authorities are unsure if Wiss’ disappearance had anything to do with it. However, detectives have not ruled out the possibility that someone killed Wiss in retaliation for testifying.
Wiss has never been found. Anyone with information regarding Wiss’ disappearance can call Detective Blake Mumma of the Wichita Police Department at (316) 268-4181.