Officials Continue Search for Missing Paddleboarder
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office continues searching for Emily Rea, who has been missing since July 16. Officials have spent more than 1,800 hours searching the Hungry Horse Reservoir area since her disappearance while also responding to other emergencies.
By Beacon Staff
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and assisting agencies are continuing to search for paddleboarder Emily Rea, who went missing in the Hungry Horse Reservoir area on July 16.
According to a Thursday afternoon press release, search and rescue teams have spent more than 1,800 hours searching for Rea since her disappearance. Sheriff’s office personnel have deployed K9 teams, boat teams equipped with sonar and underwater robots, ground teams, Two Bear Air rescuers, drone teams and divers. The sheriff’s department has been assisted by the U.S. Forest Service, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Glacier National Park and other agencies and independent resources.
According to cell phone data, security camera footage and her vehicle’s location at the Riverside Boat Launch parking lot, officials believe Rea was alone when she put her paddleboard in the Hungry Horse Reservoir at the Riverside Boat Launch sometime after 8:30 p.m. on July 16. The boat launch is located 21 miles up the Southfork Road on the east side of the reservoir.
Rea’s paddleboard on the evening of July 17 was found upside down in the Flossy Creek area, more than two miles west of the Riverside Boat Launch. Weather reports showed a westerly wind on the reservoir the night of July 16, consistent with the paddleboard’s location. Rea’s paddle was found stowed and assembled on the paddleboard. Rea’s cell phone was not with the paddleboard. Her cell phone last pinged on a tower reachable on the South Fork Road between Martin City and the Riverside Boat Launch, with the time of the ping consistent with her travel from the last security camera sighting to the Riverside Boat Launch.
Per the press release, deputies over the past two weeks have received numerous follow-up reports and tips regarding the search for Rea; however, no tips have yielded new information. Rea, 33, is 5 feet, 5 inches tall with brown eyes and brown hair.
The search for Rea is ongoing.
The sheriff’s office has responded to several other rescue calls during the search for Rea.
Officials on July 28 received a call for a man who had entered the water in the Wounded Buck area of the Hungry Horse Reservoir. A boat crew searching for Rea responded to the call, more than five miles away, but was unable to locate the victim. Boat crews and divers on July 29 located and retrieved the deceased body of the victim, identified as 63-year-old Randy Gilpin of Bigfork. Gilpin was not wearing a life jacket when he entered the water.
Additionally, sheriff’s deputies, alongside Evergreen Fire, Creston Fire and Flathead Search and Rescue, on July 28 responded to a call in which a kayak had flipped and victims were trapped on a log on the Flathead River. Responding crews successfully rescued a 42-year-old male and a 12-year-old female during the incident. The rescued individuals were not wearing life jackets.
The sheriff’s office encourages boaters and swimmers to use life jackets for safety when recreating on the water.
Those with helpful information on the search for Rea can email the sheriff’s department at [email protected].