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Body of missing woman recovered from river

Stillwater County Search and Rescue
stillwater county rescue.jpg
Stillwater County Search and Rescue
stillwater county sheriff woman in river.jpg
Posted at 9:40 AM, Jun 09, 2022
and last updated 2022-06-09 17:39:13-04

The body of Julie Capdeville Freeman was recovered from the Yellowstone River on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, by the Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office and Stillwater County Search & Rescue personnel.

The Stillwater River flows into the Yellowstone River just west of Columbus.

Undersheriff/Deputy Coroner Randy Smith said that Freeman was 44 years old and a resident of Laurel.

Freeman was one of five people who fell into the nearby Stillwater River on Sunday, June 5, when their raft capsized.

Two adults and a child were rescued, and a search began for Freeman.

Freeman was not wearing a life jacket at the time, according to Smith.

An autopsy has been scheduled for Thursday, June 9.



(JUNE 6, 2022) The Stillwater County Sheriff's Office says five people were aboard a raft that overturned and wrapped around a bridge pier on the Stillwater River southwest of Columbus on Sunday, June 5, 2022.

It happened at an area known as the Beartooth Drop, a wide ledge spanning nearly the expanse of the Stillwater River below the Swinging Bridge Fishing Access Site.

A woman in her 40s is still missing in the river; search and rescue operations were suspended at nightfall and will resume on Monday.

Undersheriff Randy Smith says the call of the overturned raft came in at 1:11 p.m. on Sunday and rescuers were able to pull two adults and a child to safety from the raft. None of them were injured.

Smith says the woman currently missing in the river was not wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) at the time of the incident.

Smith says all of the people were from the area; their identities are not being released.

Several agencies are assisting in the search and boaters and recreators are asked to stay off those sections of the rivers.


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