Tragic update in the search for a missing Montana woman who disappeared while horseback riding

A Montana sheriff leading the search for a missing woman who vanished while riding her horse gave a tragic update Tuesday as officers continued to search a body of water where they believe she may have fallen.

Meghan Rouns, 27, was out on a horse trail at McMaster Hills Recreation Center near Helena on Friday, but was reported missing by her family when she didn’t return home six hours later.

Officers and volunteers have since been desperately searching for any trace of the married woman and on Saturday found her horse and a phone with a tracking device in a saddlebag.

But as officials continued to search a portion of the Missouri River on Tuesday, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said their efforts had shifted to a “recovery phase” rather than a rescue mission.

“There have been no signs of life since Friday, so the chances of life are very, very slim,” he told the US Sun. “But we’ll look anyway.”

Rouns was last seen by her family leaving her home at around 2pm on Friday, October 4th.

According to Lewis & Clark sheriff’s deputies, a photo was posted to their Snapchat account around 4:20 p.m.

Authorities say she has not been heard from since.

She was then reported missing around 8pm after failing to return home, leaving police a three hour and forty minute window in which she could have disappeared.

Her father said she was horseback riding in the Eagle Bay area east of Helena, west of the Missouri River.

He said she was seen wearing jeans, a black shirt, possibly a gray hoodie and a baseball cap, and simply told the family she was going horseback riding in the area.

Her father said she was horseback riding in the Eagle Bay area east of Helena, west of the Missouri River

She had only told family members where she was going that day

Over the next few days, multiple law enforcement agencies joined in the search for the missing woman and eventually found Rouns’ horse on the hillside of Hauser Lake – which has become the authorities’ main search area.

The Helena Police Department Malmstrom Air Force Base even used a helicopter Sunday as search dog teams were brought in.

Dozens of volunteers also searched the recreation area on foot and horseback, and at the same time a robotic vehicle and divers were seen combing the water where Roun’s horse was found.

On Tuesday, the sheriff’s department dispatched divers to the stretch of the Missouri River that Sheriff Leo Dutton has described as an “area of ​​interest.”

Authorities now believe Rouns was thrown from her horse in high winds on Friday and fell into the river. She couldn’t swim, Dutton told the Independent.

“We believe something happened that spooked the horse and put it in the water.” “We just don’t know what yet,” the sheriff said, adding that he has ruled out foul play.

The sheriff further noted that search teams discovered her baseball cap upriver, where a GPS tracker and cell phone were found in a saddlebag, which they used to reconstruct Rouns’ activities through the recreation area.

“It kind of confirms my suspicion that there was a significant wind event when she reached the riverbank,” Dutton claimed.

“The hat was in the water,” he explained. “We assume this was due to the strong winds.”

Volunteers also roam the recreational facility on foot and on horseback

On Tuesday, the sheriff’s department dispatched divers to the stretch of the Missouri River that Dutton described as an “area of ​​interest.”

“We covered half of it yesterday and will continue the search today,” he promised Tuesday, noting that riders and volunteers were still searching the land around the river.

The sheriff is now urging volunteers not to impede officers’ searches in the waters and is instead asking locals to focus on the dense bush areas away from the coast.