Isadora "Izzy" Wengel, 25, of West Fargo, North Dakota, was reported missing to the West Fargo Police Department on January 7, 2026, after her father told police he had not seen her since December 31, 2025. Wengel had been staying at the Fargo apartment of her boyfriend, 21-year-old Joshua Alexander Hite, since January 1. She was last confirmed on surveillance footage at a Fargo Walmart on January 3, 2026, at approximately 5:05 p.m., after which her phone connected to Hite's home Wi-Fi network and did not leave the vicinity of his apartment. Hite told investigators he dropped Wengel off at her West Fargo residence around 6 a.m. on January 5, 2026, but surveillance footage from a nearby gas station and traffic cameras showed no passenger in his vehicle at that time. She has not accessed her phone, social media, or financial accounts, and missed scheduled medical and therapy appointments, since early January 2026.
The investigation has involved the Fargo Police Department, West Fargo Police Department, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Cass County Sheriff's Office, Moorhead Police Department, and Otter Tail County (Minnesota) Sheriff's Office. On February 10, 2026, Fargo Police arrested Hite, and prosecutors have charged him with murder, tampering with physical evidence, and providing false information to law enforcement; he has pleaded not guilty and remains held at the Cass County Jail on $5 million cash-only bond. Court documents state DNA matching Wengel was recovered from items including a reciprocating-saw blade, plastic sheeting, and bathroom items seized from Hite's apartment. Investigators believe Wengel was killed between January 3 and January 5, 2026, and that her remains were dismembered and disposed of at multiple locations in west-central Minnesota; extensive law-enforcement and volunteer searches, including a 10-day search of the Fargo landfill, have not located her remains as of this writing. Wengel is entered in NamUs as MP158223. Anyone with information is asked to call the Fargo Police Department / Red River Regional Dispatch Center at 701-451-7660, or submit anonymous tips by texting FARGOPD or WFPD to 847411. Case Number 26-583.
