By: Bobby Falat
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Seven search warrants tied to the murder case of Isadora Wengel that have been made public reveal the sweeping digital investigation West Fargo police conducted in the weeks following the 25-year-old’s disappearance.
The warrants, issued between Jan. 12 and Jan. 28, 2026, targeted accounts and records across six companies: Bumble, Snapchat, Yahoo, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and Wells Fargo Bank. There is also a search warrant filed for a Minnesota-based therapy provider that Wengel had been seeing.
Joshua Alexander Hite, 21, of Fargo, is charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence, and providing false information to law enforcement in connection with Wengel’s death. He is scheduled to stand trial May 13, 2026. Wengel’s body has not been recovered.
The Warrants
Bumble and Yahoo
Investigators sought records from Wengel’s Bumble dating account and her Rocketmail email address, now operated by Yahoo, covering July 1, 2025, through Jan. 7, 2026.
West Fargo Police noted that Wengel and Hite met on Bumble and began dating in August 2025. Investigators said they were unable to extract sufficient data from the Bumble app during the forensic examination of either Hite’s or Wengel’s phones, prompting the direct warrant to the company.
Investigators wrote that Wengel’s Rocketmail account could reveal her pattern of life before her disappearance and potentially identify whether someone else accessed the account after she went missing.
Both warrants sought account activity logs, messages, location data tied to IP addresses, photos, and connected device information. Results from both warrants were stored at the West Fargo Police Department.
Snapchat
A detective sought records for two Snapchat accounts belonging to Hite and Wengel, covering Dec. 15, 2025, through Jan. 7, 2026.
According to the warrant, members of Wengel’s family told investigators she sent daily selfies through Snapchat. On Jan. 4, 2026, Wengel’s mother received an unusual AI-generated cat photo from Wengel’s account. A friend received an odd photo of a ceiling, described as the last Snapchat received from Wengel’s account.
“This was strange and unlike Wengel to go days without sending a Snapchat,” detectives wrote in the warrant affidavit.
Investigators sought all messages, snaps, stories, deleted content, location data, IP logs and device information from both accounts.
T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless
Two search warrants show detectives sought phone records for two separate numbers covering the period from Dec. 31, 2025, through early January 2026. One warrant targeted phone records to track location and communications in the days leading up to and after Wengel’s disappearance. The other sought records to track location and communications from the time of Wengel’s last known sighting through the search of Hite’s apartment on Jan. 9, 2026.
Both warrants sought call and text records, precise GPS and cell tower location data, voicemails, text message content, IP logs, cloud storage and subscriber records.
Wells Fargo Bank
Detectives sought Wengel’s bank account records from Wells Fargo, covering Nov. 1, 2025, through Jan. 15, 2026. Investigators said the records would establish her typical financial activity before her disappearance and flag any unusual transactions after she went missing.
Wholehearted Healing LLC
Investigators sought all of Wengel’s therapy records from Wholehearted Healing LLC, a licensed therapy provider based in Wayzata, Minnesota, dating back to Jan. 1, 2022.
Investigators confirmed with the provider that Wengel had been a patient since early 2022. One of the early indicators in the case was that Wengel missed a scheduled virtual therapy appointment on Jan. 15, 2026, according to the warrant.
Background
Wengel was last seen on surveillance footage at a Fargo Walmart on Jan. 3, 2026, at 5:05 p.m. Her family reported her missing on Jan. 7, 2026.
Court documents show Wengel spent New Year’s Eve with Hite and stayed at his Fargo apartment from Jan. 1 through her disappearance. Hite told investigators he dropped Wengel off at her West Fargo residence at approximately 6 a.m. on Jan. 5, but surveillance footage from a nearby Kwik Star gas station and traffic cameras showed no passenger in his vehicle at that time.
Forensic evidence recovered from dumpsters outside Hite’s apartment on Jan. 8, 2026, included blood-soaked gauze, towels, plastic sheeting, a bathmat and a Sawzall blade wrapped in a blue latex glove. DNA testing matched the blood to Wengel.
DNA evidence recovered from the Sawzall blade also matched Wengel, according to court documents.
A Home Depot receipt found in Hite’s apartment showed he purchased a Sawzall, Sawzall blades, plastic sheeting, extra-large trash bags and black duct tape on Jan. 4, 2026, delivered via DoorDash.
Court documents also revealed Hite conducted Google searches that day for “home depot Sawzall,” “junk removal near me,” “dumpster” and multiple searches for “how to register for a legal alias,” according to court documents.
Hite was arrested Feb. 10, 2026. Court documents state investigators observed injuries on his body at the time of his arrest, including cuts and bruising.
What’s Next
Hite is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing March 31, followed by a pre-trial conference on May 11. The trial is scheduled to begin on May 13.
Fargo police continue to search for Wengel’s body and a missing 27-gallon HDX black storage tote believed to be connected to her disappearance. Two community-led searches spanning from Fargo to Otter Tail County have not located either.
Anyone with information is asked to call Fargo police at 701-451-7660.
