Merry William Diers, cold case advocate and creator of the WNY Missing and Unidentified Persons Network, has been continuing to fight for justice in the 17-year-old cold case of Anderson. Diers hopes that with continuous updates to information that is publicly available, that some progress may be made in the case.

Anderson went missing on Oct. 28, 2008. The last location that Anderson would be seen would be the Lake City Dodge on Washington Street, after stopping to see her boyfriend who worked there. Anderson would leave the dealership at 1:10 p.m. in her blue 2005 Dodge Caravan. This would be the last time Anderson would ever be seen.

After missing a 3:15 p.m. appointment, and failing to pick her son up from school, concern began to arise. Diers reported a recent shift in the lead of the investigation. Joseph Smith, of the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, has recently retired, according to Diers. As a result, the investigation has been taken over by Amy Kirschman of the New York State Police. Diers hopes that with a new face leading the investigation, and additional public transparency on some details, that there can still be justice for Anderson.

Diers noted an important account that had not yet been publicly detailed by investigators. Diers shared a recorded account with The Post-Journal of a man who initially reported strange circumstances in the area where Anderson’s van was found on the night of her disappearance. The man stated that, between 8 and 8:30 p.m. on the night of Anderson’s disappearance, a Ford Taurus pulled up into the man’s driveway. The man stated his dog would go crazy as a result, and that he took time to calm down the dog before preparing to see if the person in the Ford needed assistance. The man then stated the dog would run to the back door and start barking again, and when the man would look outside he stated he saw a man standing along his well access road.

Police cars line Lawson Road, located in the town of Busti, in June 2009. P-J file photo

With concern growing, the man recalled grabbing his shotgun and preparing to protect himself with such unusual circumstances forming around him. The individual continued down the well road toward the Ford, ignoring multiple requests to stop and state his intentions, the man said. The man stated he fired a warning shot in the air, prompting the individual to hit the ground, then sprint toward the vehicle and dive through the passenger-side window head first. The man stated that the car had driven up into the front yard at this point, and went speeding off as soon as the unidentified man made it through the window, suggesting another individual was driving. One specific detail that the man would recall about this vehicle was the Tony Stewart NASCAR sticker in the rear window.

“So he went outside and saw a man ducking, dodging, and jumping basically when he had seen him,” said Diers. “And the guy jumped into that passenger’s side window of that vehicle and took off.”

Upon arriving home the following day, the man would see the road lined with police officers and flashing lights. It was at this time that the man was informed that Anderson was missing, and that her van had just been located on that very road. With the circumstances seeming just too suspicious, the man informed an officer of everything that had occurred the previous night. The man stated that officers claimed that his account “had nothing to do with what they were doing,” and that no interest was taken in his account.

Two days after this encounter with the police, the man claimed to have had a knock at his door. Anderson’s father and sister had come and asked for permission to walk the property looking for clues, according to the man. The three would set out on the property, with the man stating that he decided to search through the soft soil of this creek bed with a stick. While doing so, the man claimed to have found a pair of women’s pants, a woman’s blouse and a woman’s bra. The man claimed he called the Busti Police Department, who came and collected the items in bags. According to Diers, repeated attempts to contact Smith about the matter revealed that it was never proven whether or not the clothes belonged to Anderson.

Diers noted an immediate interest in finding who the vehicle from that night belonged to. Ken Anderson, former husband of Corrie, has long been suspected as a person of interest in the case. Additionally, Diers noted that a longtime friend of Ken’s, had also been suspected of possibly having some involvement in Anderson’s disappearance. Upon speaking to Anderson’s sister, Diers would find out that a vehicle matching this description, with the same NASCAR sticker, had been spotted at a previous court date of Ken’s. Diers would discover that the vehicle that appeared at the court appearances belonged to Cavender and his girlfriend at the time.

Merry William Diers, cold case advocate and creator of the WNY Missing and Unidentified Persons Network.

“I told her, it was [Ken],” said the unidentified man, in reference to the individual walking along his well road. “He had his red hat on, about six foot-one, at the time I’m going to say he weighed 160 to 175 pounds. I told the state cop that, and he just didn’t want to hear nothing.”

Diers made note that both Ken Anderson was arrested on charges stemming from a kidnapping and assault incident in August 2025 in Ohio. Seeing this continued dangerous behavior, and aggression toward women, Diers hopes for this arrest to spark a renewed interest in the case.

No charges have ever formally been made in connection to the disappearance of Anderson, and she still remains missing to this day. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the New York State Police at (716) 353-8800.