The Disappearance and Murder of Lori Paige

source: WTXL

Lori Paige vanished on June 3rd, 2023. The then-12-year-old girl was last seen in Tallahassee, Florida, on Continental Court near Ocala Road. Lori never returned home and has not been seen or heard from again. 

When Lori was first reported missing, investigators initially did not suspect foul play because, according to reports, "all signs pointed to a voluntary runaway." Lori had run away before, about a month prior to her June 2023 disappearance. It appears that she was only missing for a short amount of time after her first time running away. This time around, though, Lori did not return home.

Unlike most preteens and teens, Lori had a very small digital footprint. A report on Lori's case from February 2024 states that friends helped her during her previous runaway. However, it does not appear that investigators have been able to identify anyone who helped Lori run away in June 2023. 

The Tallahassee Police Department investigated over 1,200 missing juvenile cases between the years of 2021 and 2023. As of February 2024, only seven of those cases are still open - Lori's being one of them. Tallahassee Police Detective Anna Lee Drake told reporters in that 2024 report that that Lori's case was the only case she's worked involving a missing juvenile "who has been missing this long without any contact." As such, there were increased concerns for Lori's safety and wellbeing.

There is very little information available about Lori's disappearance. The events on the day she left home are unknown. By February 2024 - eight months after she went missing - Lori's family had not publicly spoken about her disappearance. In fact, it appears that the only person who had spoken out is Margaret Summers - a teaching assistant from Lori's middle school. 

Summers spread awareness about Lori's disappearance on social media and spoke to reporters about the case. She expressed that she does not believe Lori would stay away for this long on her own. In February 2024, Summers told reporters, "I do not believe for a second that she’s sustaining herself. There’s adults who can’t even make it on their own."

In April 2025, a major break was made in the case. Digital footprints from Lori's father, Andrew Wiley, led investigators to Merrily Plantation in Thomas County, Georgia. While searching the area, investigators found the remains of Lori Paige. Shortly after the discovery, Wiley was arrested and charged with his daughter's murder.

After Wiley's arrest, it was reported that investigators found evidence that he killed Lori on June 1st, 2023, and disposed of her body in Thomas County the following day. It was also reported that "purchases Wiley made before the slaying suggest there was likely abuse of [Lori] occurring, which may have been of a sexual nature.”

Wiley was being held in Leon County Detention Center as the case against him was pending. Approximately two and a half months later, in June 2025, it was announced that Wiley had died in custody following a "medical emergency" at the detention center. As of right now, his cause of death is still pending.

-
Sources:
Crime Online
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Tallahassee Democrat
Tallahassee-Thomasville WCTV
WALB News 10