Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Photos

Amy Lee Fandel


Amy, date, approximate 1978; Age-progression to age 46 (date, approximate 2016)
Date Missing 09/05/1978
Missing From
Sterling, Alaska
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 08/25/1970 (52)
Age 8 years old
Height and Weight 4'0, 52 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A sweater, a red and a blue vest and striped jeans.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, brown eyes.
Details of Disappearance Amy and her older brother, Scott, were last seen during the evening hours of September 4, 1978. They had been at Good Time Charlie's, a bar/restaurant in Sterling, until approximately 10:00 p.m. that night with their mother, Margaret, and a visiting aunt, Margaret's sister Cathy Schonfelder. The women brought Scott and Amy back to their cabin at that time and then returned to the bar by themselves.
The cabin the Fandels lived in had two bedrooms and was located in a rural, heavily wooded area off Scout Lake Road, half a mile from Sterling Highway, and south of Sterling. It had a single bright streetlight out front. The front door lock did not work. (The cabin burned down several years after the Fandel children's disappearances.)
Scott and Amy visited their next-door neighbors, the Lupton family, after their mother and aunt dropped them off. They were very close to the Lupton children and walked with them to school each day. After playing with the Luptons, they went home again. A neighbor passing by at 11:45 p.m. noticed lights on in the Fandels' cabin.
Margaret and Cathy arrived back home between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. on September 5, 1978 to find the lights out. This is unusual; Scott and Amy were afraid of the dark and usually left the lights on at night.
A package of macaroni and an open can of tomatoes sat on the kitchen counter, and a pot of water was boiling on the stove. It appeared as if Scott had been interrupted in the process of preparing a macaroni snack, which he liked to eat before bed. Assuming that the children were sleeping at the Luptons' house, Margaret and Cathy retired for the night.
Margaret left for work at approximately 8:30 a.m. that morning; Cathy awoke at 12:00 p.m. and assumed Scott and Amy were at school for the day. Margaret tried to call Amy at school that morning and was told the child hadn't arrived. She became worried, but her boss would not let her leave work.
The Lupton children arrived at the Fandels' home after school and inquired as to Scott and Amy's whereabouts. Cathy learned that neither child had attended classes that day, nor had they spent the night at the neighbor's house. She called Margaret, who immediately summoned the police.
Scott and Amy have never been seen again. Bullet casings were later found outside the cabin; it is unknown if they have anything to do with the children's disappearances.
Margaret moved to Illinois after her children's disappearances. Scott's biological father also lives in Illinois. The children's maternal uncle, Terry Schonfelder, believes Amy's father, Roger D. Fandel, may be involved in her and her brother's disappearances.
Roger left Margaret and the children in January 1978, nine months prior to Scott and Amy's disappearances, and moved to Arizona. Margaret tried to reach him immediately after Scott and Amy vanished but could not, although his relatives whom she spoke to said he did not know the children's whereabouts. Shortly after their abductions, Roger flew to Alaska to assist in the search for them.
Years after the children's disappearances, a woman who had been Roger's girlfriend in 1978 allegedly asked for $5,000 from Roger's uncle in exchange for her telling him the children's fates. Roger has not been charged in connection with Scott and Amy's apparent abductions, however, and neither has anyone else.
Investigators considered him a suspect in the s for many years, but no longer believe he was involved.
Terry believes Amy is alive and living in Anchorage, Alaska; Lompoc, California; or Drummond, Montana, but that Scott was killed shortly after being abducted. No evidence has been found to support any theory.
Scott and Amy's s remain unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Alaska State Troopers
907-262-4453
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Help Find Scott and Amy Fandel
NewsLibrary

Missing Person Photos

A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe. By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Photos