When 12-year-old Lori Paige vanished from her Tallahassee home in June 2023, the story her father, Andrew Wiley, told seemed straightforward. He said he went to work late at night, and when he came back the next morning, she was gone. She’d taken her rainbow-colored backpack. It looked like a classic runaway case. But as the months turned into years, the narrative shifted from a search for a missing child to a chilling murder investigation that ended in a Georgia field.
Honestly, the timeline of the Andrew Wiley and Lori Paige case is a masterclass in how digital footprints eventually catch up with people. For nearly two years, the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) and the FBI chased leads across multiple states. They looked at Tennessee, where Lori used to live. They looked at South Georgia. Nothing. Then, a cell phone seizure changed everything.
The Search for Lori Paige: From Runaway to Homicide
The case officially began on June 3, 2023. Wiley told officers that Lori lived with him for about a year after moving from her mother’s home in Tennessee. He claimed she was unhappy, that she’d argued with her mom recently, and that she had a history of running away. It was a convenient story. It painted Lori as a troubled preteen who just wanted out.
Police initially treated it that way. They distributed flyers to her school, Griffin Middle School. They interviewed her friends. One classmate described her as quiet, smart, and a fan of anime. She was the kind of kid who kept a small digital clock on her desk during class.
But detectives aren't easily fooled by a "troubled kid" narrative when the facts don't align. By early 2024, the inconsistencies in Wiley's story started to pile up. He couldn't provide dental records. He didn't know much about her friends. Most damningly, his digital history told a completely different story than the one he gave in interviews.
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The Digital Trail in Thomas County
In February 2024, investigators got their hands on one of Wiley's phones. What they found was dark. On the very day he claimed Lori went missing, someone used that phone to search for "remote areas of Alabama and Georgia" and "bodies of water."
Even more suspicious? A search for "Appalachicola National Forest dead body" and "where do police look to find missing kids."
GPS data placed Wiley’s phone in a specific field off Mitchell Road in Thomas County, Georgia—a place known as the Merrily Plantation. This wasn't just a random stop. It was a precise location in a brush-covered area. Police searched it in early 2024 but found nothing because the vegetation was too thick.
It wasn't until April 5, 2025, after a prescribed burn cleared the heavy brush, that detectives returned. Within 100 feet of where the phone had pinged two years earlier, they found human remains. They were later confirmed to be Lori Paige.
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Why the Andrew Wiley Case Still Haunts Tallahassee
The discovery of the remains led to Andrew Wiley being charged with second-degree murder. The details that emerged during the following weeks were stomach-turning. State Attorney Jack Campbell eventually revealed a potential motive that involved allegations of sexual assault and a possible pregnancy. It painted a picture of a domestic situation that was far more dangerous than the "runaway" story Wiley had carefully constructed.
Basically, the system failed Lori until it was too late to save her, but the tech she probably didn't even know her father was using ended up being her only voice.
There was a strange twist in the legal proceedings, though. Just months after his arrest in April 2025, Andrew Wiley died in custody. On June 19, 2025, he had a medical emergency in the Leon County Jail and was pronounced dead later that evening.
He was only 36.
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Because he died before he could stand trial, the community was left without a public cross-examination of the evidence. There would be no "guilty" verdict from a jury, no sentencing hearing, and no chance for him to explain what happened in those final hours on Continental Court.
Making Sense of the Evidence
If you look closely at the court documents, the evidence against Wiley was substantial even without a confession.
- Forensic Evidence: Investigators found Lori's blood in the carpet of Wiley's car.
- Flight Risk: Shortly after Lori disappeared, Wiley reportedly purchased a one-way plane ticket from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico.
- Device Destruction: He had allegedly destroyed other electronics to hide his tracks, but that one phone he kept proved to be his undoing.
It's a grim reminder that in modern investigations, your phone is essentially a witness that never sleeps.
Lessons for Child Safety and Community Awareness
The Andrew Wiley and Lori Paige case highlights several critical gaps in how we handle missing children reports, especially when the child has a history of "running away."
- Question the Narrative: When a child "runs away" without their phone or personal belongings (Lori's last phone activity was weeks before she vanished), it should be an immediate red flag for foul play.
- Digital Vigilance: Digital forensics are often the only way to break a "he-said, she-said" deadlock in domestic cases.
- Community Reporting: If you see something, say something. Lori's friends had heard rumors that her "dad was mean to her," but those threads weren't pulled until it was a recovery mission rather than a rescue.
If you suspect a child is in an abusive situation, don't wait for them to go missing. Contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453. In Tallahassee, the TPD remains the primary point of contact for any lingering details regarding this case, as they still encourage anyone with information about Wiley's movements in June 2023 to come forward.
Lori Paige deserved a full life and a safe home. While the legal case ended with Wiley's death in a jail cell, her story serves as a tragic benchmark for how much work still needs to be done to protect vulnerable children in plain sight.