WHITEFISH — Emily Rea was last seen on July 16, 2024; she was reported missing when she didn't return after going to Hungry Horse Reservoir to go paddle-boarding alone.
Her vehicle was found at a boat launch site, and her paddleboard was discovered the next evening—upside down, over two miles away—but Emily has never been located.
Nearly a year later, Emily’s family is still searching for answers.
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“It’s time to reengage, we’re looking to up this search effort,” said Emily's Uncle Brian Sanders.
A large crowd gathered in Whitefish at the United Methodist Church Saturday morning for an organizational rally.
“I think the best way to describe her is she’s everybody’s favorite person,” said Sanders.
Sanders traveled from Tampa Bay, Florida to attend the rally.
“We’re as a family incredibly grateful to the work done by the sheriff’s office, search and rescue members, and a lot of people today have been sharing their stories with me about their personal involvement in the search.”
The event included speeches from friends and family members, raffle items and shirts for sale with proceeds going towards ongoing search efforts.
The family plans on expanding the search for Emily as they continue to look for answers.
“We need to expand the search from the water, which is where primarily the effort has been so far, to looking at other possibilities,” said Sanders.
The family has started a petition to have federal agencies assist with finding Emily.
“We’re looking to fund a private investigator that’s part of what today’s about, and the second is we’re asking people to sign a petition that would invite the sheriff’s office to get federal agencies involved who are better resourced for a criminal-type investigation," added Sanders.
Thousands of hours have been dedicated to search efforts for Emily, including helicopters, drones and specialized divers.
Emily's mom, Nina Rea, said it’s time to explore other possibilities.
“The main thrust is to continue to work alongside the Sheriff’s Office, which has done a phenomenal job, but we’re not convinced that Emily was a simple water death and what if she is alive and is in the hands of someone causing her harm.”
More information on search efforts for Emily can be found at eyesforemily.com
(NOVEMBER 5, 2024) The search for 33-year-old Emily Rea, who went missing in July at the Riverside Campground on the shore of Hungry Horse Reservoir is continuing.
Rea went to Hungry Horse Reservoir to go paddle boarding by herself on July 16, 2024, and never returned home.
Flathead County Search and Rescue and The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office began the search after receiving reports that Rea was missing.
“Her vehicle was located in Riverside campground up on Hungry Horse reservoir. We found a paddle board on the opposite side of the reservoir, which is a couple miles on the other side,” said Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino.
Crews then began searching the shoreline and surrounding wilderness with dogs, helicopters and other land resources on both sides of the reservoir. which turned up no leads, despite months of searching.
“It really pushed us towards the water operations. The difficulty we had was it was a pretty large area, and basically Hungry Horse Reservoir is a back-filled canyon of water. So there's a lot of debris on the bottom," Sheriff Heino explained."And so some of that was, you know, some of the struggles we had. It basically was logged off. A lot of stuff is still down there. "You're trying to identify targets drop, you know, an ROV and underwater camera up on them, and it's 300 feet deep in some of these parts."
The debris and changing terrain also took a toll on resources breaking multiple boats and underwater cameras. Due to damaged equipment and winter approaching, there will be a time when search operations will halt.
“Basically, there will be a period, yes, where we will not be able to go up there, but we are going to continue to kind of target the areas that haven't been searched," Sheriff Heino told MTN. Our main goal, always, is to, you know, to clear or do the best we can clear that area, provide closure to the family, and then leave the investigation open if any other further leads or information comes forward."
After thousands of man-hours searching for Emily Rea, Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino and Flathead Search and Rescue volunteers have not given up.
“I think as sheriff, we're always going to continue to look, The reservoir varies in depth, so we're going to always be able to be looking at, you know if the depths go down in the spring. Do we have a better opportunity? I think as a leader of the search and rescue portion of our county it's always one of those things where you want resolution," Sheriff Heino said. "And so you continue to try to do everything you can, within your capabilities."
There have been no new leads in the case and Emily’s cell phone still hasn’t been found. Authorities will continue to search when the weather allows.
