The Disappearance of Donna Sue Mitchell
Donna Sue Mitchell
| Name | Donna Sue Mitchell |
| Born | January 2, 1963 |
| Age Missing | 57 (now 63) |
| Height | 5'3" |
| Weight | 115 lbs |
| Hair / Eyes | Brown / Brown |
| Home | Hope, Indiana |
A Mother and Grandmother Who Vanished
Donna Sue Mitchell was born on January 2, 1963. She lived in Hope, Indiana, a small town of just over 2,000 people in Bartholomew County, roughly 46 miles southeast of Indianapolis. She was 57 years old when she was last seen on February 11, 2020. She would be 63 today.
Donna was heavily dependent on prescription medication that she took daily; her family has stated that her medical condition would not allow her to leave home for extended periods of time without it. When she left her home on the night of February 11, 2020, her medication remained inside.
At the time of her disappearance Donna was wearing glasses, a tan Carhartt jacket, and blue jeans with a flower decal on the pant leg. She was driving a distinctive maroon 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer with Indiana license plate 902QAK; the front bumper of the vehicle was attached by a coat hanger. Neither Donna nor the Trailblazer has been seen since.
What We Know
On the evening of Tuesday, February 11, 2020, Donna Sue Mitchell left her home in Hope, Indiana. According to investigators, she had told family she was traveling to a friend's home in Letts, in Decatur County, near County Road 60 Southwest and County Road 600 South. The drive between the two locations is approximately 25 minutes by car.
At approximately 7:30 p.m., Donna was last seen in Hope. She then drove to Hartsville, Indiana, a small community between Hope and Letts. At approximately 8:00 p.m., security video at the Brown Bottle Liquor Store on State Road 46 in Hartsville recorded Donna walking out of the store. That footage is the last confirmed sighting of her. She left the store and drove away in her maroon 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer, Indiana license plate 902QAK.
Donna never arrived in Letts. She did not return to her home in Hope. She did not contact family. Her medication, which she required daily, was left at her residence. By the following day, when family had not heard from her, they reported her missing to the Hope Police Department.
A statewide Silver Alert was issued on February 13, 2020. Despite extensive ground and aerial searches, witness interviews, and water searches, no trace of Donna Mitchell or her vehicle has ever been found. As of the date of publication, she remains listed on the Indiana Missing Person Bulletin as missing and endangered.
How It Unfolded
The Investigation
The Hope Police Department initiated the missing person investigation after Donna's family reported her disappearance on February 12, 2020. Because her stated destination was inside Decatur County, the Decatur County Sheriff's Office became the lead investigating agency for the area where Donna was believed to have been heading. The Indiana State Police assisted with both an aerial search and statewide Silver Alert distribution. Donna remains profiled on the Indiana State Police Missing Person Bulletin under the Hope Police Department; her case is also tracked by Decatur County investigators as a long-term open missing person investigation.
In the weeks following her disappearance, investigators searched every drivable route between Hartsville and Letts, including secondary roads and rural farm lanes. They reviewed traffic camera footage, interviewed dozens of witnesses including the Brown Bottle Liquor Store staff, and asked property owners along Decatur County Line Road, 700 South, and 60 Southwest to provide any video from road-facing cameras for the evening of February 11, 2020. Property owners along the entire Hartsville-to-Letts corridor were asked to walk their land in case Donna's vehicle had left the road and ended up in a wooded or low-lying area. Indiana State Police flew an aerial search of the corridor. None of these efforts produced any trace of Donna or her vehicle.
In March 2021, the volunteer search organizations Adventures with a Purpose and Watters Sonar & Search Team traveled to Indiana to conduct sonar searches of ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water along Donna's expected route. The searches were coordinated with the family-run "Bring Donna Home" Facebook group. No vehicle or remains were located. In February 2023, the Decatur County Sheriff's Department publicly announced that additional investigators had been assigned to the case and renewed its public appeal for any information about waterways that had not been searched, or had been filled in or altered since 2020.
Investigators have not publicly identified any persons of interest or named any suspects in connection with Donna's disappearance. The case is classified as missing and endangered. Donna's prescription medication was left at her residence; her family has stated that her medical condition would not have permitted an extended absence from home. As of the date of publication, no remains have been identified as hers, and her vehicle has never been recovered. The Decatur County Sheriff's Office and the Hope Police Department both confirm that the case remains open and that any tip, no matter how small, will be reviewed.
Family-run advocacy and search coordination page providing case updates and tip routing.
Bring Donna Home — Facebook Group →
If You Have Information
Donna Sue Mitchell drove away from a liquor store in Hartsville, Indiana on the night of February 11, 2020 and was never seen again. Her maroon 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer with Indiana plate 902QAK has never been recovered. The route between Hartsville and Letts is rural; the answer to what happened that night may lie on private property, in a body of water, or in the memory of someone who saw her vehicle that evening. Investigators are particularly interested in information about ponds, lakes, or wetland areas that have been filled in or altered since 2020. All tips can be submitted anonymously.
They Are Not Forgotten
Donna was 57 the last time anyone she loved saw her face. She had brown hair and brown eyes and stood five feet three inches tall. She wore glasses. She drove a maroon Trailblazer that was held together, in part, with a coat hanger. Her family knew the car. The whole town of Hope knew the car. It was the kind of detail a small Indiana town remembers; the kind of detail that should have made the vehicle impossible to lose.
She was a daughter, a sister, a friend. She lived in a town of just over two thousand people. She took medication every day to manage her health, medication that her family says she could not be without for long. The medication was still in her house when she walked out the door on February 11, 2020. That detail has weighed on her family for nearly six years. They know what it means.
She was last captured on a security camera at a small-town liquor store, walking out alone into the February night. She drove away. She did not arrive at her friend's house in Letts. She did not come home. The roads between Hartsville and Letts have been searched. The ponds and lakes have been searched. The skies over the corridor have been searched. People who love Donna have walked fields and stared at sonar screens and sent in tips and waited by phones. The Trailblazer has never been found. Donna has never been found.
There is a Facebook group called Bring Donna Home. Her family runs it. They have run it for nearly six years. They post updates when there are updates and they post nothing when there is nothing, and they keep going either way. They are not letting her be forgotten. They are not letting Indiana forget her either.
Donna would be 63 years old now. Somewhere there is an answer to what happened on the road between Hartsville and Letts on a Tuesday night in February. Somewhere there is a person who knows. Somewhere there is a body of water no one has searched yet, or a piece of land no one has walked. Donna deserves to be found. Her family deserves to know. We are remembering her here because she has not stopped mattering, and because the night she disappeared cannot be the last thing said about her life.