KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nearly two months have passed since Marina Bischoff, 39, disappeared after she left the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department's Shoal Creek Division the morning of May 28.
Nothing about the investigation of her disappearance makes any sense to Bischoff's family and friends. They believe there are key pieces of information that will solve the case, but they still have more questions than answers.
"Nobody's been able to give me an answer that makes sense," Bischoff's brother, Victor Bischoff, said. "Why didn't we start the search earlier? Why didn't we take the missing persons report earlier?"
Victor is in Texas trying to sort out the details. He said he was told to wait to file a missing persons report until the next week.
Marina Bischoff was arrested for DUI and leaving the scene of an accident late on May 27 after she hit a pole with her car at Northeast 86th Terrace and North Mersington Lane. That location is not far from her apartment.
She left the scene but came back as police were arriving.
Searchers would later find her cell phone and keys by a treeline just down the street from the crash.
Police said she made a few phone calls at the station. She left the next morning around 7 a.m. without her belongings.
"I think the key information we're missing is the three phone calls she made in the morning on Thursday," Victor Bischoff said. "(Detectives) said their internal IT team had reviewed the phone calls but they were not able to identify those numbers."
Victor said he asked detectives to check with the department's IP system provider to find out who she called, and he found out they had not done so.
"That was shocking. I would think if you want to solve a case, you would have checked those things," Victor said.
He's also shocked that none of the people Bischoff called that morning have come forward to the police, to his knowledge.
KCPD was not able to respond to questions from 41 Action News regarding the case, but said there is nothing new to add at this time.
Bischoff's coworkers, Hope Flynn and Allison Juneau, also are pushing for answers but feel like they have nowhere to turn. They say the COVID-19 pandemic has gotten in the way of organizing more searches and vigils.
"Just different struggles trying to get the search for Marina started and having adequate resources provided," Flynn said. "We just feel like we're playing catch up and we're just hoping, I don't know, at this point that the police make Marina a priority."
Flynn and Juneau worked with Bischoff at Children's Mercy in urgent care.
Bischoff was a social worker, and her friends say she loved helping families. She started working in Kansas City about two years ago.
"Everything from that night to today has been uncharacteristic and confusing for all of us," Juneau said.
Juneau said the constant stress of COVID-19 had been weighing heavily on Bischoff, and they all talked about it at work.
Victor also said his sister was likely depressed, but she poured herself into her work when she felt down.
They were all on high alert on July 5, when a boy found a decomposing body in Shoal Creek, a half-mile away from the Shoal Creek patrol division where Bischoff was last seen. Police are waiting on DNA lab results, which could take months.
Victor Bischoff also is confused about how and why his sister got a DUI because she didn't drink.
"Did something else happen that we don't know? That's still in the back of my mind," Victor said. "I don't see her just drinking by herself for no reason. Where exactly was she? Why did she drink?"
Victor was told that his sister appeared to be disoriented when she hit the pole. Her friends received the same information.
Police said staff deemed her competent to be released and couldn't keep her detained anyway due to COVID-19 protocols.
Victor said he doesn't expect VIP treatment, but wonders if Bischoff should have been held for observation longer.
"Releasing somebody, a small-framed person, 5-foot-3, 100 pounds, with no way to get home, no credit cards, no wallet, no cell phone, no car — what do you expect?" Victor said.
He wonders if his sister wandered into the creek by mistake. He said every scenario should be investigated.
"Had we done this back in the beginning I think we would have maybe found — if it is her body — maybe we would have found it in different circumstances," Victor said.
Bischoff's friends are pushing for the police department to expedite the DNA results, along with the phone information and any information on her laptop found in her car.
"We need to know," Juneau said. "We need to know if we continue to search for our friend or if she's been found and we can start to form some closure and put her to rest."
