A woman’s remains were discovered in the forests of eastern Missouri over the weekend, more than five months after she went missing, according to authorities.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said that Emily Strite, 33, was last seen in Imperial, a St. Louis suburb near De Soto, in early April. In a missing person flier for Strite posted later that month, detectives stated that she fled the neighborhood on foot, seemingly of her own volition. Strite was officially reported missing on April 20.
Law enforcement had urged the public for help as their investigation into Strite’s disappearance began. According to the sheriff’s office’s April alert, she was 5 feet 5 inches tall and wore jeans and a dark blue hoodie before going missing. The broadcast included images of Strite as well as a narrative.
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak revealed Tuesday that Strite’s body was discovered on Saturday by the owner of a farm in De Soto.
Deputies responded to a complaint Saturday from a De Soto property owner who reported finding human skeletal remains in a forested area, Marshak said. Investigators from the regional medical examiner’s office established that the remains belonged to Strite, using medical and dental records to confirm the identification.
Strite’s cause of death remained unknown as of Tuesday, according to the sheriff. Marshak stated that police were “working to learn how her body ended up where it was found.” Authorities have encouraged anyone with information regarding the case to contact the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office’s Detective Bureau.
Charlyn McClain, Strite’s mother, told NBC’s Dateline that she last spoke with her daughter on April 12. McClain stated that Strite was living with a friend in De Soto at the time, and she later suspected that the 33-year-old had crossed the Missouri border to Cahokia, Illinois, to visit her children at their father’s residence. The father, Steve Fults, called McClain about a week later to see if she had heard from Strite, the mother told Dateline.
“He has never called me and asked me questions about Emily or told me anything about Emily,” McClain told CBS News. “That’s why I panicked when he called me because he had never done that before.”
Strite’s missing person report was filed shortly thereafter.
CBS News contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for more information on their investigation into Strite’s disappearance but did not receive an immediate response.