‘She Just Vanished’: Indiana Woman Goes Missing After Night Out With Friends

In January 2021, Kirsten Brueggeman, 26, was last seen on surveillance video walking in an area not far from a popular pub.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department

By: Aaron Rasmussen

Around 2 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2021, a surveillance camera captured video of Kirsten Brueggeman walking through a YMCA parking lot in Indianapolis, Indiana. Nobody has seen her since.

“She just vanished,” said her mother, Lisa Brueggeman. “That's the best way to describe what happened.”

Investigators assigned to the case noted Bruggeman, 26, would have had to climb a fence in the area of the lot where she was headed or circled back around, but they were unable to track her next movements since the camera was faulty.

“The video cuts in and out,” Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Detective Nicole Bockting explained. “If it hadn't done that, we wouldn't be sitting here wondering where she is.”

According to the The Indianapolis Star, Brueggeman lived with her parents, and the night she disappeared she was out at Manley’s Irish Mutt, a local restaurant and pub not far from the YMCA.

Brueggeman was drinking with her friends when she reportedly got into an argument with them and they left her behind and headed to a local bowling alley.

“It eats at my conscience because we were there right before whatever happened,” one woman in the group, Robyn Lybrook Hirt, told The Star. “If only we wouldn't have left her there.”

Brueggeman’s mother recalled getting a sense something was wrong that night.

“Call it mother’s intuition, but I felt like something bad had really happened,” Lisa Brueggeman told WXIN. “I woke up at about 12:30, about the same time her phone went off, and that’s when I first tried to call her and her phone was off.”

Months after Brueggeman went missing, her family hired a private investigator and offered a reward in the hope they could get some answers.

In March, Rex Brueggeman, told The Star that Kirsten’s loved ones have learned “almost nothing more” about his missing daughter’s whereabouts.

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Kirsten Brueggeman is asked to contact the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's missing persons unit at (317) 327-6160 or online at missingpersons@indy.gov.

For more on this case, stream Disappeared: "Vanished in the Night" on Max.

Next Up

Louisiana Woman Disappears While Road Tripping To Colorado To Start New Life

“Our family will never give up looking for our daughter,” the parents of Caitlyn Rose Case say.

Where Is Ella Goodie? Louisiana Woman Disappeared After Giving Somebody A Ride

A Louisiana woman disappeared without a trace on March 9, 2022. Police now believe she may have been murdered.

Mother Of Four Vanishes After Finishing Her Shift At Florida Walmart

Marie Chantal Delly left her job on May 17, 2010, but failed to show up for her child’s doctor appointment the next day.

Alabama Mother Who Vanished After Leaving Work Has Been Missing Since 2008

Nadia Kira Kersh’s abandoned car and purse were found after she failed to pick up her 1-year-old son from day care.

5 Things That Still Bother Us About The Unsolved Maura Murray Case

On Feb. 9, 2004, UMass Amherst student Maura Murray left campus and crashed her car in Haverhill, New Hampshire. She has never been seen since.

Mystery Surrounds Case Of California Woman Who Went Missing At A Yoga Retreat In Guatemala

Nancy Ng's family is desperately trying to find answers after the 29-year-old disappeared during a swim while kayaking on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.

Where’s Chelsea Grimm? California Woman Vanishes While On Road Trip To Attend Wedding

“We are trying our best to hold onto positive outcome scenarios and put our faith in the authorities,” Stephen Grimm says about his missing daughter.

Oregon Mother Of Four Who Was To Meet Up With Teen Son Suddenly Vanishes

“Physically I just wish I could hug her again and tell her how much we really love her,” says the daughter of Graciela Garcia.

Missing South Carolina Woman Phoned 911, Claimed Ex-Boyfriend Was Chasing Her After Break-In

Daniel Gabriel Harmon is accused of the presumed murder of Jamilla “Millie” Shanae’ Smith, officials say.

Where Is Tracie Bell? Illinois Woman Vanishes Amid Ongoing Eviction Dispute With Family

“I’m not feeling like she’s alive, and I want to know what happened to her,” a cousin says.