Meghan Rouns Missing, Help Locate Helena, Montana female horseback rider: On Sunday at McMaster Hills Trailhead, helicopters, search and rescue teams, the Sheriff’s Department, and a large number of volunteers continued the search for a 27-year-old woman who went missing on Friday, October 4th. On Saturday, October 5th, her horse and phone were discovered.
Meghan Rouns took a ride Friday. Her parents said she was supposed to return by 2 p.m. Her parents called the Sheriff’s Department around 8:00 p.m. Friday, search and rescue teams were deployed in the McMaster Recreation area.
Search teams of all kinds have been scouring the region.
Sunday’s concentration was on the west side of the area and working the seas. Multiple authorities from neighbouring counties have assisted in the search for Rouns. On Saturday night and Sunday, a helicopter from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls joined the search.
On Sunday, the focus was on Hauser Lake, where a robotic-controlled vehicle and divers were brought in a mile and a half downstream from Canyon Ferry Dam.
Since Friday, the following agencies have helped with the search: Lewis and Clark County Search and Rescue Units, MT ANG, Mercy Flight from Great Falls, Malmstrom Air Force Base helicopter, Helena Police Department drones, Helena Fire Department drones, IFlyBigSky, Elkhorn Search and Rescue Dogs, True North Search Dogs, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, Bureau of Land Management, and local volunteers.
Rouns’ cell phone GPS data shows a large presence in the lake. “Her horse was found just up the hill from the lake, so this has become our primary area to search based on the evidence we have gathered,” said Willy Wegner, operations lieutenant with Lewis and Clark County Search and Rescue.
In addition to the evidence discovered, search and rescue personnel have employed a process of elimination. “As we search areas, the more we search it the lower probability that area becomes, so then we will move to another area,” he said.
In addition to the strong search presence on the water On Sunday, volunteers hiked the area in search of even the smallest clues.
Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton adds, “With the number of volunteers we have, we allocate them to a sector and ask them to report back. They’re doing a good job.
Sheriff Dutton stated that the spur found by volunteers on Saturday did not belong to Meghan. After meeting with Meghan’s parents, brother, and sister-in-law, they expressed their appreciation for the community’s efforts to find Meghan.