LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Family of missing mother Andrea Knabel says they're in contact with Kentucky State Police again, after a new set of human remains found in Boyle County Friday night.
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.
"It was in the three- to five-year range, which is how long my daughter's been gone," said Mike Knabel, Andrea's father. "Three-and-a-half years, these are exposed remains to weather, they were not buried, they were female."
In a Facebook post in the page called "Finding Andrea" Knabel's sister Erin said:
"We have been in contact with KSP who's on the scene. Remains were found on a farm and the woman seems to have been deceased for 3-5 yrs. The remains haven't been to the coroner yet to get exact details. The detective working Andrea's case was made aware too. We will check back with them when they have more info. Dental records of Andrea's are similar to these remains."
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.
Mike Knabel, Andrea's father, knows what it's like to get news of a body found - hoping it's the call his family needs in the search for his daughter.
"We've seen the worst of the worst and know how that feels when you get that news," Mike Knabel said.
He said situations like this have happened many times before. The family has been called by agencies or even members of the public saying his daughter has been found, all have turned out to be false.
Although the autopsy on the body found in Boyle County is still being performed, Mike Knabel isn't ruling anything out at this point, especially with what he was told by investigators regarding characteristics of the remains.
"There were specific dental similarities," Mike Knabel said. "I am not going to say the same because I didn't see it and at that point the detective had not seen what I had forwarded to them."
The father said his daughter knew people who lived near Lexington, including family members so she was familiar with the area.
With each day that passes, the possibility of finding his daughter alive slips farther away. With every phone call he gets, he expects the worst but hopes for the best, that his daughter has been found alive, or at the very least, can finally get some closure to her search.
"You become numb to some of these things and you just kind of try to roll with the punches," Mike Knabel said.
Louisville Metro Police said it remains an open case.
