How do you rule out "foul play" without a body?

[Three Foot Johnson]

Some of you may have heard about this - four days ago, late on Friday afternoon, a young woman, Meghan Rouns, went horseback riding and turned up missing in a small "recreation area" a couple miles from me. Husband and family say she's very familiar with the area and has ridden there several times before. The horse was found, with her cell phone in a saddlebag, and her hat was found. The area is maybe two square miles, sparsely wooded, not particularly rugged at all, and surrounded by houses. We've searched or glassed every square yard, and there have been several helicopters flying grid patterns overhead. Yet, by Sunday, the sheriff's department said foul play had been ruled out. She's literally vanished, no body, no witnesses, so how did they come to that conclusion? The Missouri river borders the area to the north and has some bluffs that offer spectacular views, but in some places these bluffs drop off at a 100% grade about 450 feet to the river - horse and hat were found nearby, but not close to the very edge. After day one, I was pretty convinced that's where she must have ended up, and searchers have now shifted their focus to the river and Hauser Lake a mile downstream.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

Put a suspect as ease??

[watab kid]

i dont think that would be a correct assessment of the situation , they need to find her to know that ,  

[Chantry]

Making the decision based on information not shared with the public?

[Matthew Duncan]

Any indication that foul play was involved? 

[Rip Snorter]

One interesting / disturbing detail.  Apparently, according to one of the news sources, a tracking device was in the saddlebag in addition to her cell phone.  

[Three Foot Johnson]

Her body was found in the Missouri two hours ago. 

[Three Foot Johnson]

1 hour ago, Rip Snorter said:

One interesting / disturbing detail.  Apparently, according to one of the news sources, a tracking device was in the saddlebag in addition to her cell phone.  

It's becoming pretty common for riders to put a GPS tracker on their horse or in a saddlebag, but it doesn't do a lot of good if the horse also has your cell phone when it runs off.

[Rip Snorter]

8 minutes ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

It's becoming pretty common for riders to put a GPS tracker on their horse or in a saddlebag, but it doesn't do a lot of good if the horse also has your cell phone when it runs off.

Never heard about it here, and I am around some ranchers and horse people.  Cell service is sparse where I live.  My immediate thought was stalker.

[Ozark Huckleberry]

Horse and hat found close to the bluff overlooking the river, no other tracks/footprints but hers leading to the edge but not back, gouges in the dirt where she slipped on the edge of the bluff, maybe?

Edited October 9, 2024 by Ozark Huckleberry

[Rye Miles #13621]

12 hours ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

Her body was found in the Missouri two hours ago. 

Sad, prayers to her family.

[ORNERY OAF]

Did they say cause of death?

[Eyesa Horg]

Sudden stop 

[Three Foot Johnson]

The body has been sent to the state crime lab in Missoula.

[watab kid]

prayers for her family , sadly i expected this end but had hoped for better , 

[Three Foot Johnson]

Cause of death was determined to be accidental drowning. The family also said she didn't know how to swim. Burial will be at the Fort Harrison Veteran's Cemetery next week.

 

This is kind of odd - the tracker showed her path around the area, then into the river in an area below the bluffs accessible on horseback where it indicated she had taken the horse into the water where it walked in a few big circles close to shore then quit tracking. Maybe this wasn't known at the time, but it should have been on her recovered cell phone, so why in the world did they have us searching the land area for three days? Damaged phone or password protected maybe.