Crime

Skeletal remains found in Kansas City match to woman considered missing for 10 months

Abbi Schaeffer, 22, was last seen on May 23, 2022, Kansas City police said. Her skeletal remains were discovered Saturday.
Abbi Schaeffer, 22, was last seen on May 23, 2022, Kansas City police said. Her skeletal remains were discovered Saturday. Kansas City Police Department

Kansas City police say skeletal remains discovered in a remote area on the city’s southern edge are those of a woman who disappeared nearly one year ago.

Abbi Schaeffer, 22, of Kansas City, was last seen leaving her home on May 23, 2022. Police publicized her case with a flyer roughly 10 days later, asking the community to help locate her.

At the time, police said a still image taken from a doorbell camera represented the last time she had been seen.

Abbi Schaeffer is 5 feet, 2 inches tall, weighs 120 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a tan, long-sleeved crop top, black leggings and gray Nike sandals.
Abbi Schaeffer is 5 feet, 2 inches tall, weighs 120 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a tan, long-sleeved crop top, black leggings and gray Nike sandals. Kansas City Police Department

On Saturday, a person called police to report the discovery of suspected human remains near 95th Street and Blue River Road. It is a heavily wooded area south of Bannister Road, close to the Blue River, baseball fields and some farmland.

Police say the remains were later matched to Schaeffer. The medical examiner’s office was to determine the cause and manner of her death.

Police continued to investigate Wednesday. The case is classified as a death investigation.

Since she disappeared, family and friends have shared posts to a Facebook community group asking for tips to help to locate her. Immediately after she went missing, her social media went dark, and she fell out of contact with loved ones, the group says.

This story was originally published April 5, 2023 at 10:43 PM.

Bill Lukitsch
The Kansas City Star
Bill Lukitsch covered nighttime breaking news for The Kansas City Star since 2021, focusing on crime, courts and police accountability. Lukitsch previously reported on politics and government for The Quad-City Times.
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