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TOOELE – The family of a missing Tooele teen is now offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.
"We're doing this because I want it to be so tempting that if you know where she's at, you'll tell us where she's at," Breann Sagers, the aunt of Kandis Harris, said.
Kandis Harris went missing on July 14, 2021, when she was 16 years old. She was last seen running away from the Odyssey House Teen Inpatient facility, in Salt Lake City, where she was receiving treatment for emotional distress and drug abuse.
"Kandis had a lot of trauma she was dealing with, a lot of emotions she was trying to get through," Sagers said. "She lost her grandfather that adopted her, she lost her best friend, she had all these things she was trying to work through."
The teen had a history of running away in the months leading up to her ultimate disappearance, according to Sagers, but during that time she continued to keep in contact with family. When she disappeared from Odyssey House, she was active on social media for several days, but then she went silent.
"I feel like maybe something happened to her, maybe she an overdosed, it was an accident," Sagers said.
Sagers said her niece had a big heart and was always passionate about her family. She says the past two years have been an emotional rollercoaster trying to find her.
"We've all been through therapy trying to cope and learn how to heal, but it's hard to heal when you don't know how to heal, because you don't have the answers you need," she said.
Sagers hopes Harris is still alive and she continues to light a candle in honor of her missing niece — who would have graduated high school this year. But at the same time, she knows the reality of finding Harris alive is unlikely.
"She needs to come home to her family and let us put her where she needs to be, wherever that is, whether it's (in) treatment, whether it's to rest. My family needs that closure. We can't keep living like this," she said.
She needs to come home to her family and let us put her where she needs to be ... whether it's (in) treatment, whether it's to rest.
–Breann Sagers, aunt of Kandis Harris
A private investigator is providing $10,000 of the reward money and the remaining $20,000 is being provided by Harris' family. Sagers said tips can remain anonymous. She just wants to know where her niece is so she can bring her home.
"Where she is at is not where she deserves to be," Sagers said.
Tips about Harris' whereabouts can be made to private investigator Jason Jensen at 801-759-2248 or to the Salt Lake City Police Department at 801-799-3000.
