This 2008 Thanksgiving holiday was a somber one for the Lappegaard and Anderson families of
A warmer, more loving, and close-knit family would be hard to find. Gina was very close to all of them, either seeing them or speaking to them by phone several times daily. Gina and her husband Jeremy Anderson started dating when Gina was a freshman in high school and Jeremy was a senior. Gina married her high school sweetheart, Jeremy Anderson, on June 17th, 1996 in Thief River Falls. They will have been married for 14 years this June 17th, 2009. Plagued with female health problems as in Endometriosis since the young age of 17 years old, Gina was left unable to have children of her own because of a Hysterectomy at the age of 18, and children were something that she dearly longed for. Her sister-in-law Lisa Anderson spoke of how it was an easy decision to choose Gina and Jeremy for godparents for their first child. Lisa spoke of how wonderful Gina was to all the kids, showering them with hugs and kisses, gifts and cards, never missing or forgetting an important event.
Gina suffered through over 30 surgeries and was left with having to overcome a dependency of prescription pain medications. She has made great strides to overcome the dependency and had to suffer consequences along the way.
Gina also began suffering seizures in the past couple years, she was put on an Anti-Seizure medication though and the medication seemed to keep the seizures at bay. Gina has been sober for over a year now from pain medication and was on her way to becoming the person she once was before all the sickness.
On October 23rd, the family does not know what happened. Gina had spoke to her mother, Judy Lappegaard, the evening before. Gina spoke with her mom most every night before she went to bed and pretty much everyday at least three times during the day. Gina had told her mother that Wednesday night to make sure that Steve, Gina's dad, was going out to the cabin with Gina's husband, Jeremy so that he was not alone working on deer stands. The 2008 deer opener was coming up the following weekend after Gina had disappeared. Gina's mother didn't suspect anything out of the ordinary while talking on the phone with Gina. That morning of October 23rd came, Gina's husband Jeremy left at 7 am to go to work, and Gina was still sleeping. Gina had that Thursday off so that would be the day for her to run her errands and get things done before she had to work that entire weekend. Gina's mother Judy drove by Gina's house at 11 am and Gina's car was outside of her house. Somewhere around 1 or 1:30 pm Gina had left her house and had went to a sporting goods store in Thief River Falls, MN to buy a hooded sweatshirt that her husband had asked her to purchase for him. Gina was seen by construction workers back at her house around 2 pm, Gina spoke with them outside her house and then went back into her house. Around 2:30 pm, the construction workers claim to have seen her get back into her car around 2:30 pm and that is the last they saw of her. All of Gina's personal belongings were left inside the house, including her purse and everything in it (drivers license, medical insurance cards, etc....). Gina also had left behind her seizure medication that needs to be taken twice daily and if not taken will be out of her system within 17 hours. Gina's husband Jeremy returned home that night after work at 6 pm. Thinking Gina could possibly have went to a doctor's appt in the Grand Forks or Fargo, ND area he called Gina's parents at 7:30 pm to see if they had talked to Gina and knew where she was. Gina's mom had not talked to her all day which is rare, they at least would have talked a couple times by that time. Jeremy then decided to give her a little more time to see if she would show up and 10:00 pm rolled around and she still had not shown up or even called. Jeremy then called her parents once again and they all went out and looked for Gina till 3 am in the morning. The next morning, Friday Oct. 24th, Gina was reported missing by her husband Jeremy. Gina was last seen wearing her pink, white and black Castle racing jacket and blue jeans.
It is now 6 months to the day, April 23rd, 2009, since she has been missing. There have been numerous tips but no solid leads or explanations into why Gina disappeared. As Gina's family, we are pleading for help in finding our missing loved one. Gina is not only someone's adult child but also someone's wife and sister. She is dearly loved and is truly missed. We want nothing more then for her to come home safe so we can once again embrace her and let her know we love her. If anyone knows any information please come forward, our family is deeply suffering from the void of Gina not being with us. Thank you. Gina should be celebrating her 33rd Birthday today, March 17th, 2009, she has been missing for 5 months now at this point. May God protect her and keep her on her special day. She will be in our thoughts and prayers more then ever on this day and the days forward.
Also, thank you from the bottom of our hearts to Maren G. for offering to help prepare the helpfindgina.com website. Maren you are a truly amazing human being and we can't thank you enough.
Since writing this story of Gina's most recent days of her life, our family has endured another tragedy and that was the loss of Gina's youngest sister, Jill Lappegaard. Jill passed away on December 7th, 2008 resulting from a tragic fatal car accident, she was 22 years old and would have been 23 years old on Janurary 29th, 2009. Our void has doubled and the loss in our family is now unimaginable. Our hearts hurt beyond comprehension but we are holding strong as a family and what we have left. We know that Jill worked very hard on the search for Gina and we know that she would not want us to give up on finding her. Jill wanted nothing more then for Gina to come home and this nightmare to be over. May Jilly rest in peace and we hope that we can make her wishes and ours come true, that is to find Gina and bring her home safe. We love you Jill and Gina, we pray to God that he is taking care of and watching over the both of you. May God keep us strong and help us to get through each day.
On October 12th, 2009 the Red Lake River in Thief River Falls was lowered to search for my sister Gina and her Yellow Pontiac Sunfire. On October 14th, 2009 the search began for Gina and her car and at sometime before noon that day Gina's car was discovered in the Red Lake River submerged with her body inside. In one respect our prayers were answered but in another our worst nightmare came true. We felt a sense of relief that we didnt have to go through another winter of no searching because of the conditions but we also felt a sudden stop in our lives once again knowing another one of our daughters and sisters was gone. Also a wife was gone. There are many questions that we will never have answered on what happened that day but we can only assume that her seizure condition is what led her into the river that day of the accident. Unfortunately we had to suffer for almost one year of the not knowing, it was only days shy of the one year anniversary of Gina's disappearance that she was found. Her funeral was beautiful and her final send off of the hundreds of yellow balloons at the burial spot was unforgettable. We will miss Gina forever and love her until it is our time to be with her again. We only hope that Gina and Jill are together in Heaven alongside our heavenly father looking down on us. May God help us find peace in our losses and let us remember the amazing and wonderful people that both Gina and Jill where.
I was once told by a spiritual healer that when my sister Jill passed she found Gina and showed her the way to Heaven. It is a beautiful thing to try and believe. Two sisters together, passing in such tragic ways but to be Angels together in such a wonderful place we only imagine it to be. We love you so much Gina and Jill, until we see each other again, please know that you are still so deep in our hearts and we ache for you both everyday.
