Name: Carla Beth Anderson
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: November 13, 1987
Location Last Seen: Wadena, Wadena County, Minnesota
Date of Birth: Janaury 15, 1964
Age: 23 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 4'9"-5'0"
Weight: 80 lbs.
Hair Color: Blonde/Strawberry
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: 1/2 inch scar over right eye from sutures; Long, thin hands; severe growth retardation.
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available
Clothing: Blue jeans, white sweatshirt with 3 Pepsi/Mountain Dew bears,brown jacket with "Hardees" logo.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Pink sneakers.
At the time of her disappearance Carla, had just learned that she would be named the employee of the month at her job at Hardee's. That night she went out to eat with her mother, and stepfather to celebrate. They ate at Taco John's, and stopped on the way back to Carla's apartment to pick up a couple of movies she planned to watch that night. Her parents dropped Carla off that Friday night, and made plans to have Carla come to the cabin the family was building on Sunday to help stain some wood. In return, her mother was going to do Carla's hair so it would look nice Monday morning for her employee of the month photo. The parents dropped Carla off around 19:30 or 20.00 that night, at her apartment at Greenwood Apartments in Wadena, and never saw her again.
Carla had a cup of pop she took with her from Taco John's. She drank that and she watched one movie. The video cassette was still in the VCR. The pop was consumed. Nothing was disturbed in her apartment, and only her keys were missing. Her purse was still there. Carla's brown and orange Hardee's jacket was also missing from the apartment. Carla's door was locked from the outside.
A fire burned on the edge of town that night, one that would have been visible from her apartment on the northwest side of the building. One theory is Carla may have grabbed her jacket and keys and walked down to observe the fire up close. From there, someone could have grabbed her.
Another incident that night involved the theft of a car from the neighborhood near where Carla lived. A brown Plymouth Horizon was stolen a couple of blocks from Greenwood Apartments. It was never located.
The police followed every tip. A search committee went out looking to find Carla. A WCCO helicopter was used to search from the air. It was deer hunting weekend when Carla disappeared, and hunters were alerted to be on the lookout for Carla.
Carla's parents think someone Carla was acquainted with came to the apartment and convinced her to leave with them. The parents remembered two boys who would harass Carla, visiting her apartment and knocking on her windows from the outside.
Her parents did not know Carla was missing until Monday, 3 days later, when she failed to show up for work. The whole family took polygraph tests, which they passed. The boyfriend was also questioned and cleared. Foul play is suspected.
Agency Name: Wadena Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Chief Naomi Plautz
Agency Phone Number: 218-631-7700
Agency E-Mail: wadenapolice@wadena.org
Agency Case Number: 87001505
NamUs Case Number: 5795
NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
Wadena Police Department
Family Search
DL-Online
Added: 11/15/2007; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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