LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Saturday marks three years since a Louisville mother went missing. Her family continues searching for her.
Andrea Knabel was last seen in the early morning hours of Aug. 13, 2019, near a family member's home in the Audubon Park area. Before her disappearance, Knabel looked for other missing people, and while tips have come in since then, the toll of her disappearance hit her family hard.
A missing persons poster for Andrea Knabel.
"The emotions are always there," said Michael Knabel, Andrea's father. "I mean, always, whenever you're awake. They're there."
The search to find her has included police, private investigators, K-9s, missing persons flyers and social media outreach. But now, her family is entering a third year, still without answers.
"We miss her a great deal and we still seek to do everything we can to get her back, or find out what happened to her if we can't get her back," said Michael Knabel.
Andrea's sister, Erin, has started several social media groups dedicated to finding tips and answers related to where Andrea might be or what may have happened. She says she spends time daily working on posts to continue to raise awareness about Andrea's disappearance.
Michael Knable (Andrea's father) and Erin Knabel (Andrea's sister)
Erin said if she could speak to Andrea today, she's ask her to reach out.
"I would tell her, Andrea, I still have the same number. Please call me any time. I live at the same place, just walk through my door and I'll do whatever I can to make it easy for you to come back. Absolutely anything that you want or need, and if you're worried that we're upset with you, we're not at all," she said.
Earlier this year, Free2Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women, created a "Hope Garden" to raise awareness about missing women in the community. Picture after picture from that garden now line the back fence outside Free2Hope's drop-in center in the Portland neighborhood.
Missing person's posters at Free2Hope drop-in center.
"They have families and their families need to know what happened to them," said Amy Leenerts, executive director of Free2Hope. "You have to know what happened to your loved one or I'm sure you would be tormented, totally."
One of the pictures is Andrea Knabel's.
"We searched within a week after she went missing," said Leenerts. "Then, we've done some other small searches afterward as well, but there was nothing to be found where we were."
Posters of missing women in the Hope Garden at Free2Hope.
Erin Knabel says her family has realized they are not the only ones in this situation, waiting to find a missing loved one.
"When you hear about someone going through the same nightmare as you, you have an unspoken bond, definitely, where you instantly connect with them, and it's hard not to want to help," Erin Knabel said.
Saturday night, the Knabel family is inviting the public to join them in a candle light walk to raise awareness about the ongoing search for Andrea. The group is meeting at Pindell Avenue and Hess Lane in the Audubon Park area at 8:30 p.m. The walk is expected to take less than one hour.
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