The search for a missing woman in Missouri concluded sadly on Tuesday when authorities confirmed that they had located her body.
Emily Strite, 34, was reported missing by her mother on April 20, after she was last seen in the De Soto area on April 12. Initially, officials indicated that she had left voluntarily.
On Saturday, deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office responded to a tip about human skeletal remains discovered in a wooded site by a local property owner in De Soto. The details were shared in a press release from the sheriff’s office.
The remains were forwarded to the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office and later identified as Strite through medical and dental records.
As of now, the cause of Strite’s death remains undetermined, and investigators are working to understand how her body ended up in that location.
Charlyn McClain, Strite’s mother, shared with Dateline that Emily had been staying with a friend in De Soto leading up to her disappearance. Strite had four children, aged three to 17, with the youngest three living with their father, Steve Fults. McClain recalled that their last conversation was about Strite visiting her children.
“It was a usual thing,” McClain stated. “So, I thought, ‘She’s with Steve now and staying there.’
However, a week later, Fults called McClain, asking if she had heard from Emily and revealing that she hadn’t mentioned visiting. Despite their breakup in 2022, the two had remained in contact for the sake of their children.
“He’s never reached out like that before, which made me panic,” McClain said.
According to Grant Bissell, Public Safety Information Officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, there are no suspects or persons of interest at this time since there’s no evidence of foul play.
If you have any information regarding this case, you’re encouraged to reach out to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau at 636-797-5515.