EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) – The family of Dawnita Wilkerson came together for the third annual Find Dawnita Day, a festival-style event aimed to help raise awareness on the Evansville woman who went missing over three years ago. Wilkerson was last seen leaving an Evansville motel on June 21, 2020, climbing into a silver 2004 Chevy Suburban. Three years of unanswered questions and three years of raising awareness every September 15 on Find Dawnita Day.
“We’ve had a lot of people give us donations, or take up donations, and give them to us,” says Wilkerson’s aunt Faye Cardin. “We have a lot of people come up and tell us, ‘we’ve been praying for your family’.”
Cardin says donations are being accepted to help raise the reward amount in this missing persons case. While the family has experienced ups and downs over the last three years, they say it’s the help of the vendors and the public through Find Dawnita Day that help Cardin, and Wilkerson’s daughters Kaylen and Kiara Whitledge, remain strong.
“It has been hard for all of us. Especially the girls,” says Cardin. “There are times where all of us have our breakdown moments. We just stand each other back up.”
Kaylen Whitledge adds, “I think we’re very grateful for the amount of people who come up to support. It’s really hard, but to see people come out and support, try to be here and help how they can, we really appreciate it.”
The family says they also want to shine a light for other families looking for answers of their own.
“We know in this area there are quite a few missing people,” explains Cardin. “And we’re trying to keep the awareness that just because Dawnita’s missing doesn’t mean that other people’s loved ones aren’t missing. We all are hurting and we all want to support each other.”
The family hopes someone who knows something about Dawnita’s disappearance will come forward. They want to remind the public that they can remain anonymous. According to the FBI’s website, anyone with information is encouraged to call the FBI Indianapolis office at 317-595-4000, the Evansville Police Department at 812-436-7979 or their tip line at 812-435-6194.
