Key facts
- Name: LeeAnna Susan Marie Warner
- Born: January 21, 1998, Chisholm, Minnesota
- Age at disappearance: 5
- Last seen: June 14, 2003, around 5:00 p.m.
- Location: Near her home in Chisholm, Minnesota
- Height / build: 3’2″–3’6″, 48 lbs, light brown/blonde hair, blue eyes; wearing a sleeveless blue denim dress
- Status: Still missing — Chisholm Police Department case open
- Investigating agency: Chisholm Police Department (218-254-7915)
The five-minute walk
June 14, 2003. Five-year-old LeeAnna Warner was playing at a friend’s house in Chisholm, Minnesota — an Iron Range town of about 5,000 people where children still walked home alone. Around 5:00 p.m., she left to walk the short distance to her own house.
She never arrived. The walk should have taken five minutes.
Her mother began searching around 5:30 p.m., enlisted neighborhood children to help, and called police between 8:40 and 9:00 p.m. What followed was one of the largest searches in northern Minnesota history: hundreds of volunteers, helicopters, divers, bloodhounds, the FBI. The town shut down to look for her.
Days later, searchers found her shoes. Not together — scattered. A child’s shoes, found days into the search, in places that had already been covered. Like Ilene Misheloff’s backpack in California, they appeared after the searchers had passed.
The long aftermath
No one was ever charged. No verified sighting ever came in. The case stayed open under the Chisholm Police Department, and in the years that followed, it became one of Minnesota’s most haunting missing-child cases.
Her mother, who reported her missing that evening, died on December 10, 2022 — 19 years after LeeAnna vanished, without ever learning what happened to her daughter.
In December 2025, the case surged back into the news: bones discovered in the basement of a Chisholm home raised the terrible possibility that LeeAnna had been found. The BCA’s initial assessment was that the bones appeared not to be human, with further analysis planned to confirm; no final determination was publicly reported as of this verification (October 2026). The hope collapsed as quickly as it had risen, and the case remains open.
Theories: what might have happened
Abduction by someone she knew. A five-minute walk in a small town; shoes appearing after searches. What supports it: the staged feel of the recovered shoes and the absence of any stranger sighting. What undercuts it: no suspect has ever been publicly named, and no one has been charged. Any living person is presumed innocent.
Abduction by a stranger. A child alone on a sidewalk is vulnerable to anyone passing. What undercuts it: no witness to an abduction, no vehicle description, no trace in 23 years.
Accident. A child wandering, water, an old mine pit — the Iron Range is full of hazards. What undercuts it: the scattered shoes suggest human handling, and the largest search in the region’s history found nothing else.
Have information?
Contact the Chisholm Police Department at (218) 254-7915. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- January 21, 1998 — LeeAnna Susan Marie Warner is born in Chisholm, Minnesota.
- June 14, 2003, ~5:00 p.m. — Leaves a friend’s house to walk home; never arrives.
- June 2003 — Massive multi-agency search; her shoes are found scattered days later in already-searched areas.
- 2003–present — Case open with Chisholm PD; no charges, no verified sightings.
- December 10, 2022 — Her mother dies without answers.
- December 2025 — Bones found in a Chisholm basement are tested and determined not to be human.
- June 2028 (upcoming) — The 25th anniversary of her disappearance.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is LeeAnna Warner still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, LeeAnna Warner has been missing for more than 23 years. The Chisholm Police Department’s case remains open.
Was LeeAnna Warner ever found?
No. Her shoes were found scattered days after she vanished, but LeeAnna herself has never been found.
How old would LeeAnna Warner be today?
Born January 21, 1998, she turned 28 in January 2026.
What happened with the bones found in Chisholm in 2025?
In December 2025, bones discovered in the basement of a Chisholm home were tested on the possibility they could be LeeAnna’s. They were determined not to be human remains.
What was LeeAnna wearing?
A sleeveless blue denim dress. She was 3’2″–3’6″ and 48 lbs, with light brown/blonde hair and blue eyes.
How long was the walk home?
About five minutes — from a friend’s house to her own home in Chisholm. She never completed it.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Chisholm Police Department (case open; (218) 254-7915).
- News: Duluth News Tribune / Star Tribune coverage of the December 2025 basement-bones testing (retrieved Oct 2026).
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Disappearance of LeeAnna Warner” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_LeeAnna_Warner) (retrieved Oct 2026); Uncovered, “Missing: LeeAnna Warner” (https://uncovered.com/cases/leeanna-warner).
- Media: And Then They Were Gone podcast, “LeeAnna Warner” episode.
Corrections (Oct 2026 verification): (1) “Her mother called police within the hour” → “Her mother began searching around 5:30 p.m., enlisted neighborhood children, and called police between 8:40 and 9:00 p.m.” (CUE / NCMEC case profile). (2) Height/weight “3’6\”, 45 lbs” → “3’2″–3’6\”, 48 lbs” (The Doe Network; Minnesota BCA). (3) “Testing determined the bones were not human” (Dec 2025 basement bones) → “the BCA’s initial assessment was that the bones appeared not human, with further analysis planned; no final confirmation was publicly reported as of Oct 2026” (weareminnesconsin.com, reporting the Dec 2, 2025 search). Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.