Missing girl found dead, father arrested 2 years after her disappearance, authorities say

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray News) - A missing girl was found dead last week and her father is now under arrest.

The Tallahassee Police Department said Lori Paige went missing in June 2023 before her remains were found at the Merrily Plantation in Thomas County, Georgia, on April 5.

Authorities announced Friday that her 36-year-old father, Andrew Wiley, faces a second-degree murder charge in connection with her death.

Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said before the discovery of Paige’s remains, the middle schooler was last seen in the Continental Court neighborhood in Tallahassee in 2023.

Wiley reported his daughter missing on June 3 that year, claiming she left home with her backpack sometime overnight while he was at work.

Detectives pursued leads and conducted interviews across several states for nearly a year. Eventually, investigators said they began to uncover inconsistencies in Wiley’s original story.

In February 2024, detectives seized a phone from the father’s home.

“A forensic analysis uncovers questionable internet searches about remote areas with bodies of water in Alabama and Georgia, among other things,” police shared in a statement.

New information eventually emerged about Wiley’s relationship with Paige, which police said caused detectives to shift their focus more heavily toward him.

Around that same time, detectives started searching a “remote, brush-covered area” of Thomas County, Georgia, known locally as a plantation.

According to the police department, despite conducting multiple searches, no results were found until earlier this month.

Police said detectives returned to the plantation for another search after a prescribed burn cleared heavy brush in the area. That’s when Paige’s remains were located.

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