LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Knabel family marked yet another birthday for missing Andrea Knabel — apart from her family.
"It's just hard to say, this is the fourth birthday without her," father Mike Knabel said.
Andrea turned 41 years old on Saturday. The mother of two was 37 when she was last seen alive. In a terrible twist of fate, the member of 'Missing in America' — a group dedicated to searching for missing people — became the focus of searches.
Erin last saw her sister on Aug. 19, 2019. She says the whole situation is "definitely emotional", but she carries on. She now spends her days helping others who share a similar experience.
"The way I feel is the next best thing to having her here with me is doing something about it to bring awareness and to bring her home," Erin says.
Mike says she now runs four missing persons groups across various social media platforms, spanning from southern Indiana to the entire state of Kentucky.
"She's actually helped find a missing teen," he said. "She's become a heroine. There's no doubt about that."
The family says one of the reasons things have stalled so far in the investigation is because of something they say is out of their control — a lack of resources at the local level.
"It seems to have stalled, as far as what's going on with law enforcement. I don't think they've made much progress," Mike said. "They may want to go to the beginning again."
Right now, they have one investigator assigned to Andrea's case. Back in the day, they say they had four.
No matter what though, the Knabel family wants to reiterate that they remain hopeful.
"We keep each other high, we pick each other up," Mike said. "We celebrate the family we have that's here."
If you have any information, you should call 574-LMPD. You can leave any anonymous tip.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.