KANSAS CITY, Mo. — January 15 marks one year since Toni Anderson disappeared.
Her friends are mourning her loss, but still have questions about how she died.
“Someone once described her as kind of like a butterfly which I feel really suits her. She’s just very – she was gorgeous and she just gets along with everyone,” said friend Mary Gillespie.
Anderson went missing after a traffic stop last January. She got gas at a QuickTrip, and was never seen alive again.
“What really happened that night on January 15th? Just accepting that she just drove all the way here, and just drove down the boat ramp, and couldn’t get out of her car — I just can’t buy that,” Gillespie said.
Gillespie wants to know, and says at this point research is the only option.
“Looking over the case file, looking over all the articles that used to be posted about her, and kind of just comparing all the discrepancies, and everything, and then trying to push the new Chief of Police of the Kansas City department to show him – look at all these discrepancies that were reported numerous times,” Gillespie said.
For now, the case is closed with Anderson’s death being ruled an accident in the autopsy report.
Her body was discovered in the Missouri River last March.
However, her friends, and those following her disappearance, re-examine her case on the Facebook page “Justice for Toni Anderson.”
A bench dedicated to Toni sits by the boat dock where her car was found. A quote on the front says, “experience the world, and pursue things that bring joy into your life.”
It was designed and conceived by her boyfriend, and paid for through a Gofundme page.
Gillespie says it’s important because Anderson was cremated, so there is no grave site to visit.
“We wanted this bench as a way to always remember her, and honor her memory, and keep her spirit alive. It’s really just a place you kind of reflect even on your own life, and think about her, and feel her peace,” Gillespie said.
In July, Anderson’s parents said they planned to file a lawsuit because they have concerns about what happened the night their daughter went missing.
A toxicology test showed Anderson was intoxicated at the time of her death.
