Community search for missing Fargo woman planned Sunday in Fergus Falls

Volunteers will gather in Fergus Falls on Sunday to keep searching for the remains of Isadora Wengel, the 25-year-old Fargo woman whose disappearance has become a homicide case and whose body has not been found. The search in Otter Tail County is the latest community effort in a case that has moved from a missing person report to a homicide investigation spanning Fargo, West Fargo, Battle Lake and Fergus Falls.

Wengel was last seen by her father in West Fargo on Dec. 31, 2025, and was reported missing on Jan. 7, 2026. Since then, Fargo police have said they believe she was killed in a “heinous murder,” and Chief David Zibolski said investigators think her body may have been dismembered. Authorities also publicly pushed back on a false rumor on Feb. 13 that her remains had already been found in Otter Tail County, saying that information was not accurate.

Joshua Hite, Wengel’s boyfriend, has been charged with murder, tampering with evidence and giving false information to police. His bond is set at $5 million cash only. Police have said Hite ordered two 27-gallon totes to his apartment, but only one was found during a search, and investigators have asked people in the Fargo-Moorhead area, Fergus Falls and across Otter Tail County to report it if they see the missing tote or know anything about the case.

The Fergus Falls search comes after earlier volunteer efforts in Battle Lake and after a March 14 celebration of life for Wengel in Fargo, even as searchers continued looking for answers for her family and friends. Fargo organizer MaLeah Jimenez, who did not know Wengel personally, has helped lead several searches and has become one of the people keeping public attention on the case as the investigation continues.

Local residents who want to help, or who may have information, are being asked to contact authorities if they spot the missing tote or notice anything connected to the case. The search effort has become a community act of persistence in Otter Tail County, where volunteers are still trying to help bring Wengel home while law enforcement works a homicide case that remains open.