MILWAUKEE — A mother is asking the community to help locate her 20-year-old daughter Hailie Marie Wagner, who has been missing since August 19.
Sabrina Lasky says the last communication she received from her daughter came at approximately 5:43 a.m. on August 19. Family members say Wagner left from the area of 29th Street and Lisbon Avenue and was last seen near 28th Street and McKinley Avenue in Milwaukee.
Wagner is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs approximately 125 pounds. She has reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes. Her clothing when she disappeared is unknown.
“She needs somebody to help find her, to rescue her and to bring her back home—because she can come back home,” Lasky told WTMJ.
Wagner had reportedly been living in Milwaukee for eight to nine months and staying at different locations. Her mother says Wagner has experienced homelessness and sometimes stayed in abandoned buildings with other people she met while living on the streets.
Lasky says her daughter also struggles with several mental-health challenges and may be especially vulnerable.
“She is not perfect. Her mental health is unstable, and she is damaged—but she is not beyond repair,” Lasky said. “She is someone’s daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and mother.”
Wagner has a young son, Milo, who is now in his grandmother’s care.
“I just want my baby girl home,” Lasky said. “I want to be able to hold her, hug her, look her in the eyes and know that she is safe. More than anything, I want to see her reunited with her son. He deserves his mama, and she deserves the chance to find her way back to him.”
Mother alleges a pattern of abuse and exploitation
Lasky says Wagner had repeatedly returned with injuries before she disappeared. She alleges her daughter had been beaten, kicked, burned with cigarettes and thrown down a flight of stairs.
She also believes multiple people had attempted to exploit, traffic, or control Wagner since February.
Lasky did not identify those individuals, and WTMJ has not independently verified the trafficking allegations or determined who caused Wagner’s injuries.
However, photographs supplied by the family show Wagner with visible facial injuries. Medical records reviewed by WTMJ also confirm that Wagner was treated at Aurora Sinai Emergency Services on June 9 following an assault.
Her assault injuries included facial contusions, abrasions in multiple locations, acute upper-back pain, a hand blister, and an abnormal thoracic-spine CT. Doctors also noted a possible older, mild compression fracture at the T10 vertebra.
Because of that documented history of violence, Lasky fears something may have happened to her daughter since they last communicated.
“She is not safe out there,” Lasky said. “My gut tells me that more has happened—that there is something more going on, something I may not even know about yet. I can feel it in my heart, and as her mother, I cannot ignore that feeling.”
Criminal charges filed before Wagner disappeared
Court records reviewed by WTMJ reveal another complicated part of Wagner’s disappearance.
Wagner was charged in Milwaukee County on August 11—eight days before her family lost contact with her. The court record says an arrest warrant was issued on August 12.
Wagner is charged with armed robbery as a party to a crime and battery to an elder person as a party to a crime, with a dangerous-weapon modifier.
The case is connected to a separate prosecution involving Casey Dijohn Holmes Jr.
According to the criminal complaint obtained by WTMJ, the charges stem from an alleged robbery on April 27 at the Sunrise Apartments on West National Avenue in West Allis.
The 71-year-old victim told investigators that he knew Wagner as “Hailie C.” and that she had visited his apartment several times before the alleged robbery. The victim described Wagner to investigators as a sex worker.
The complaint alleges Wagner arrived at the victim’s apartment with Holmes. The victim told investigators that he allowed both of them inside, and that they talked and drank beer.
After approximately 10 minutes, the victim alleged Holmes struck him in the face with a handgun. Prosecutors say Holmes took the victim’s wallet, jewelry, and firearm.
The complaint alleges Wagner took the victim’s cellphone and vape pen while Holmes took other property. The victim also told police that Wagner encouraged Holmes to take a jewelry box containing 12 watches.
The victim allegedly suffered a fractured jaw requiring surgical repair and cracked teeth.
Investigators say surveillance footage showed a white woman with reddish hair and a Black man entering the building. According to the complaint, Wagner was later identified through surveillance footage and phone records.
The complaint says Wagner acknowledged to investigators that a man she knew as “K” took items from the victim that night. She also allegedly told investigators where he frequently spent time. Police identified “K” as Holmes through phone records, surveillance footage, witness identifications and Cash App information.
Prosecutors charged her under Wisconsin’s party-to-a-crime law, which allows someone accused of intentionally assisting in an offense to be prosecuted for that crime.
Holmes faces separate charges of armed robbery, battery to an elder person, theft of a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
“She is a human being who needs help“
For Lasky, the criminal allegations do not eliminate the immediate concern that her daughter remains missing and may be vulnerable.
“I am not asking anyone to pretend she is perfect or to excuse the choices she has made,” Lasky said. “I am asking people to remember that she is a human being who needs help. She is a young woman who is struggling and needs her family now more than ever.”
Lasky also has a direct message for her daughter.
“Hailie, if you see this, please know that you can come home,” she said. “You are loved, and your family wants you safe.”
Anyone who sees Wagner should not approach her or anyone accompanying her. Call 911 immediately and provide her exact location, clothing, direction of travel, and information about any associated person or vehicle.
