A woman who went for a horseback ride in Montana has not been seen or heard from in days, according to local authorities.
Meghan Rita Rouns, 27, last spoke with family around 2 p.m. local time on Friday, Oct. 4, the same day she went for a horseback ride in the McMaster Recreation area of Lewis and Clark County, according to NBC affiliate KTVH and CBS affiliate KXLH.
Sheriff-Coroner Leo C. Dutton said Rouns’ last known contact was made around 4:20 p.m. that afternoon when she took a picture on Snapchat, per KXLH.
Rouns’ family informed police of the woman’s disappearance around 8 p.m. that same day, KTVH and CBS affiliate KRTVreported.
The next day, Rouns’ horse and cellphone were found, but she was not. Later, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office announced that a search for the horseback rider had been launched.
Multiple agencies have joined in the search for Rouns and crews are working “to rule out areas of high probability.”
On Monday, Oct. 7, Dutton said in a statement that crews were concentrating their search “on a section of the Missouri River.”
“Please stay clear of the search area, this includes the water search area. If people try to get there, they will endanger our SCUBA divers,” officials said in a statement. “Please do not interfere with the search.”
The previous day, crews were focused on Hauser Lake, as Rouns’ horse was “found just up the hill from the lake,” Willy Wegner, the operations lieutenant of Lewis and Clark County Search and Rescue, told KTVH.
Crews are using canines, helicopters and drones to help with search efforts.
Temperatures in the recreation area where Rouns disappeared dipped into the mid to low thirties on both Friday, Oct. 4, and Saturday, Oct. 5, KTVH reported.
