Overview

Last known date: July 11, 2023
Last known location: West Fargo, North Dakota
Last known activity: Jonett Lorraine Wanner signed out of her remote job at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Missing with: Her dog, Scooby, and a gray 2017 Nissan Rogue with North Dakota license plate 261AZY
Current status: Missing; her case remains open.

Jonett’s cellphone was left behind, there has been no reported activity on her bank accounts or credit cards, and neither Jonett, Scooby nor her Nissan Rogue has been located. Searches and leads have taken investigators into several states, but authorities have reported no confirmed sighting of her.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Jonett Lorraine Wanner Missing Person Case: West Fargo Woman Vanished With Her Dog and SUV in July 2023

Brief Case Summary

Last known date: July 11, 2023
Last known location: West Fargo, North Dakota
Last known activity: Jonett Lorraine Wanner signed out of her remote job at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Missing with: Her dog, Scooby, and a gray 2017 Nissan Rogue with North Dakota license plate 261AZY
Current status: Missing; her case remains open.

Jonett’s cellphone was left behind, there has been no reported activity on her bank accounts or credit cards, and neither Jonett, Scooby nor her Nissan Rogue has been located. Searches and leads have taken investigators into several states, but authorities have reported no confirmed sighting of her.

Jonett Wanner Disappears From West Fargo

Jonett Lorraine Wanner was 50 years old when she disappeared from West Fargo, North Dakota, on July 11, 2023. She was working remotely from her home and signed out of work at approximately 2:30 p.m. She did not return to work the following day and has not been heard from since. Solve the Case records that she was reported missing on July 13.

Several things apparently left the home with Jonett: her purse, her dog Scooby and her gray 2017 Nissan Rogue. Her cellphone, however, remained behind. According to The Charley Project, police eventually gained access to the phone but did not find information explaining where she had gone or what might have happened.

The missing SUV remains a major part of the investigation. It is a gray 2017 Nissan Rogue with North Dakota license plate 261AZY. Scooby is described as a Chihuahua-terrier mix.

Family and Police Begin Searching

The West Fargo Police Department publicly asked for help locating Jonett in July 2023. Her family also began distributing flyers and checking places she had previously visited or enjoyed.

Jonett’s sister-in-law told KVRR that relatives searched areas connected to Jonett, including the Leaf Lake area, Duluth, Sauk Lake and the Wishek-Napoleon area of North Dakota. Family members also used social media to circulate information about her disappearance.

Jonett has an identical twin sister, Joenell Bachman. Family members continued participating in searches and public appeals as investigators followed possible sightings.

Barnes County Search Produces a False Lead

One of the earliest promising tips brought investigators more than 50 miles from Jonett’s West Fargo home.

A farmer near St. Mary’s Lake in rural Barnes County reported that a woman resembling Jonett had stopped and asked for directions around the period she disappeared. The tip prompted a substantial August 2023 search involving law enforcement officers, boats, sonar equipment, divers, drones and a Civil Air Patrol aircraft. Searchers checked areas around St. Mary’s, Moon and Sweetwater lakes.

The possible sighting ultimately proved unrelated to Jonett. Another woman later contacted authorities and indicated that she had been the person who spoke with the farmer. What had appeared to be one of the investigation’s strongest early leads was eliminated.

Jonett Wanner’s License Plate Is Run in Minnesota

A second major development emerged several months after Jonett disappeared.

On August 12, 2023, a Stearns County Sheriff’s Office deputy in Minnesota randomly ran the license plate associated with Jonett’s vehicle in the area near St. Cloud and south of Avon. At the time, the deputy did not stop the vehicle, and information connecting the plate to the missing-person investigation was not immediately available.

The information did not become widely known until October 2023, when Minnesota authorities issued another public appeal.

The license-plate check was significant because it potentially placed the plate associated with Jonett’s Nissan Rogue in central Minnesota roughly one month after she disappeared. However, authorities could not establish who was driving the vehicle. Later investigation in the Stearns County area did not locate Jonett or her SUV.

Searches Expand Across Multiple States

The investigation eventually expanded far beyond West Fargo.

In a detailed case update, the West Fargo Police Department said detectives had investigated numerous anonymous tips resulting in searches in North Dakota, Minnesota, Arizona, Washington, Nebraska and Oregon. None produced a confirmed sighting of Jonett.

Investigators also searched multiple bodies of water in Barnes County, North Dakota, and in Stearns and Becker counties in Minnesota. Detectives personally traveled to the Stearns County area to investigate a possible sighting but did not locate Jonett or her Nissan Rogue.

Despite the geographic scope of the investigation, authorities said they had found no confirmed trace of Jonett.

No Bank or Credit Card Activity

Another unusual element of Jonett’s disappearance is the lack of financial activity.

West Fargo Police reported that no transactions had occurred on Jonett’s credit cards or bank accounts. Investigators have continued checking law-enforcement databases, incoming information and other resources as the case remains active.

Her cellphone being left behind, the absence of financial transactions and the continued disappearance of both her vehicle and dog have limited investigators’ ability to establish a verifiable trail after July 11, 2023.

Authorities have not publicly announced evidence establishing what happened to Jonett, and the circumstances of her disappearance remain unclear.

Police Ask Farmers and Landowners to Search Their Property

By the second anniversary of Jonett’s disappearance, investigators were asking people with rural property to take another look around areas that might normally receive little attention.

West Fargo Police specifically asked farmers and landowners to check farmland, wooded areas, abandoned structures, sheds and remote property for any indication of Jonett or her vehicle.

Police emphasized that tips had been investigated even when they led investigators into other states. The department said its Investigations Division would continue following any new leads.

Red River Vehicle Search Brings New Attention in 2025

A new search connected to Jonett’s disappearance occurred in October 2025.

An independent missing-person cold-case dive team, Adventures With Purpose, located a submerged vehicle with sonar near the Dike East boat ramp in the Red River in Fargo. The search had been conducted in connection with Jonett’s case. Fargo Police and Valley Water Rescue assisted with recovering the vehicle on October 25.

Investigators determined that the recovered vehicle did not appear to be connected to Jonett Wanner. Police said it appeared to have been underwater for a considerable amount of time, and there was no evidence that anyone was inside it.

Although it did not resolve Jonett’s disappearance, the search demonstrated that investigators and independent search teams were still examining waterways and possible vehicle locations more than two years after she disappeared.

Latest Public Investigation Information

As of August 27, 2026, Jonett Lorraine Wanner remains listed in the North Dakota Missing Persons database, with the West Fargo Police Department identified as the investigating agency. The state listing gives her current age as 53 and continues to show July 11, 2023, as her missing date.

The most recent detailed public case statement available from West Fargo Police is dated July 11, 2025. Police reported at that time that searches conducted in multiple states had produced no confirmed sightings, searches of several bodies of water had not located her, and there had been no activity on her credit cards or bank accounts.

The newest substantial publicly reported search development located during this review occurred in October 2025, when the submerged Red River vehicle was recovered and ruled unlikely to be connected to Jonett.

There has been no public announcement that Jonett, Scooby or her Nissan Rogue has been found.

What Remains Unanswered

More than three years after Jonett disappeared, several central questions remain unresolved: where she went after signing out of work, who was operating the vehicle bearing her license plate in Minnesota on August 12, 2023, where her Nissan Rogue is now, and what happened to Jonett and Scooby.

There is currently no publicly established explanation for her disappearance.

Anyone who saw Jonett, Scooby or the gray 2017 Nissan Rogue with North Dakota plate 261AZY, particularly during the period after July 11, 2023, may possess information investigators have been unable to reconstruct through electronic or financial records.

The West Fargo Police Department continues to accept information about the case.y.