Andrea Knabel's family still hoping for answers nearly a year after she disappeared

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Family members continue searching for a Louisville mother who has been missing for nearly a year.

This week marks one year since Andrea Knabel disappeared. She was last seen on Aug. 13, 2019. Phone activity shows she was at her mother's Audubon Park home on Chickadee Road at 6:31 a.m., according to previous reporting.

Knabel often helped other families search for missing loved ones, adding several questions to her own disappearance.

"We hope she left on her own and we pray that she did and she's happy and healthy somewhere," her father, Mike Knabel, said Monday. "But we fear that somebody took her, and there's some people she knows that would be involved in that type of thing."

Private investigators and a K-9 unit have helped in the ongoing search, but she remains missing. Mike Knabel said a lot of the search has now moved online, through the "Where Is Andrea Knabel" Facebook page.

"We have had leads come in and some pretty good leads," he said, noting those include the east coast, west coast and Florida. "We are very determined, and we're not going to quit this thing until we get some resolution. We pray every day, and I do every day, that it's a positive one."

Mike Knabel said locally, people have continued searching for his daughter. But so far, there's nothing concrete.

"Every single (sighting) has not been her," he said. "Very interesting lookalikes but just not her."

"We fear the worst at this point," Mike Knabel said during an interview in January.

Despite his fears, his hope is that his daughter will come home and is safe. In January, the family also held a vigil for other families in crisis.

"The family — and I do mean the whole family — is very interested in keeping the support and vigilance up for Andrea," Mike Knabel said. "But in this journey we've had to try to find her, we’ve seen so many other families that are in crisis also. So, as a secondary benefit, we hope to honor and support all families in crisis along with my daughter, Andrea."

Due to COVID-19, the family is only planning a small gathering for the one-year mark. Immediate family and a few close friends will walk Andrea's last known path in Audubon Park on Thursday. Then on Saturday, the public is invited to stay in their cars and drive the path at dusk to remember Andrea and remind people she's still missing.

Mike Knabel said that path will be Chickadee Road to Cross Bill Road, to Cardinal Drive.

On Monday, Mike Knabel also said the family is increasing the reward to up to $10,000 given to the person or people directly responsible for bringing Andrea home safe and alive.