Montana
Body of missing woman who vanished while horse riding recovered
Authorities have located the body of a woman who mysteriously went missing in Montana while horseback riding last week.
Meghan Rouns, 27, disappeared after setting off with her horse along the McMaster Hills trail, about 15 miles from Downtown Helena, on Friday afternoon.
Search teams located the woman’s hat, phone and horse, which looked like it had been in the Missouri River, but did not immediately find her remains. The horse did not like being in the water and Rouns could not swim.
Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo C Dutton told The Independent he believed a powerful gust of wind knocked the woman off her horse as she trotted along the river, forcing her into the water.
Divers pulled the woman’s body out of the river on Tuesday.
“It is with great sadness we report that Meghan was located by our search and rescue divers around 3:40 p.m.,” a statement released by the sheriff’s office read. “She is deceased.”
Rouns’s body was found in 11 feet of water, about 100 feet from shore. Officials will take her body to a crime lab in Missoula to determine her cause and manner of death. Foul play is not suspected at this time, Dutton said.
Rouns did not suffer from any medical conditions that would’ve prompted an emergency, and deputies do not suspect she died by suicide.
“To Meghan’s family, we extend our condolences and deepest sympathy,” the statement continued.
Rouns, an experienced equestrian, was meant to return from her ride around 6 p.m. Friday. When she did not, her father reported her missing two hours later. A search began at 9 p.m. the same day that lasted until 4 a.m. Saturday. Upon locating her horse, officials discovered a GPS tracker confirming it had been in the river.
As a result, search teams focused much of their efforts on combing through the water to try and find the 27-year-old.
Hikers scoured the area for clues, while helicopters, drones and cadaver dogs were deployed to try and find her.
“It’s something that is extraordinary that happened to her that caused us to be in this search for her,” Dutton said.
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Clark Fork River has long been a defining feature of Missoula, shaping the city’s culture, economy and outdoor lifestyle.
The river is so closely tied to the area that it helped inspire the well-known book and film “A River Runs Through It.” But local conservation advocates say its importance goes far beyond scenery.
“Without the Clark Fork River, Missoula would just be another town,” said Lisa Ronald, Northern Rockies associate conservation director for American Rivers. “We wouldn’t be the River City. I think we’re known in Montana as Missoula the River City, and it’s really because of the Clark Fork River and its central role in business, in economics, in recreation, that really makes Missoula the town that it is.”
Carmen Murill, a field organizer with Wild Montana, said the river is deeply woven into daily life for people who live in Missoula.
“A lot of us would wonder what to do on a beautiful or a rainy summer day,” Murill said. “I mean, it’s really a lifeforce of town. And I think it’s pretty unique that Missoula, as a community is living and breathing on both sides of the river. It’s really like two downtowns but connected by the Clark Fork.”
Conservation groups say protecting the river begins with community involvement.
Advocates encourage residents and visitors to spend time outdoors, whether on a trail, in the woods or along the river, and to learn how they can become better stewards of the environment.
MISSOULA — Sam Forstag edged out Ryan Busse to secure the Democratic nomination in Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Busse conceded the race to Forstag on Wednesday morning. Forstag had trailed behind Busse Tuesday evening, but he made up ground as the votes were counted into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The other two candidates in the race, Russl Cleveland and Matt Rains, are sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Forstag leads in close race for Montana’s 1st Congressional District
Forstag spent eight years as a wildland firefighter, including four as a smokejumper, and he’s been vice president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union. Last week, U.S. House of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, held a rally in Missoula to support Forstag’s campaign.
He told MTN on Tuesday that his campaign has been for the working class.
“We got a whole lot of people here that have been working their tail off to finally get some working-class representation in Washington,” Forstag noted. “So proud of everything we’ve done and so grateful.”
Forstag further noted he wants Montanans to be able to afford groceries, have universal free childcare and restore and expand Affordable Health Care Act subsidies.
“Hearing people’s stories and struggles and commonalities in the ways that we’re all fighting in the system that does not serve us so often, and the government serves corporations and the richest people in this country more than working people. It has been frustrating and saddening, but it has also inspired so much hope in me, like the fixes we can actually make,” he told MTN.
The 1st Congressional District covers much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. It is currently held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who chose not to seek reelection.
By securing the nomination, Forstag is slated tol face off against Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy and Republican candidate Aaron Flint in November.
Brian Miller won the Democratic primary Tuesday for the U.S. House seat in Montana’s eastern district.
The Associated Press called the race for Miller, an attorney in Helena, who fended off a challenge from state Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, a longtime legislator from Box Elder, and Sam Lux, a farrier from Great Falls.
In the Republican and rural eastern district, any Democrat will be an underdog, and Miller will face off against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, who was unopposed Tuesday.
Libertarian Patrick McCracken is also running.
In the primary, Miller took 58% of the vote. Lux took 27% and Windy Boy took 16%, according to the Montana Secretary of State’s website.
In April, Windy Boy paused his campaign amid “serious sexual abuse” allegations raised by the Montana Democratic Party — but Windy Boy restarted his campaign and later called the allegations “political attacks.”
Miller is representing the victim of the alleged abuse and her mother, although he said he didn’t take on the role until after Windy Boy initially suspended his campaign.
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