Nearly a year after a local paddleboarder went missing while visiting the Hungry Horse Reservoir, an extensive search campaign has been reignited to find 34-year-old Emily Rea after most efforts paused over the winter.

Rea went missing on July 16 last year when – officials believe – she was out on a solo paddleboarding excursion that evening after heading out from the Riverside Boat Launch on the east side of the reservoir and drowned. After she was noticed missing, search crews found her paddleboard more than two miles west of the boat launch the following day and a multi-agency search operation ensued.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Two Bear Air, search and rescue teams and a slew of agencies have spent more than 1,800 hours searching for Rea, which has included boat teams, divers, ground teams and specialized sonar devices.

One such device includes a side-scan sonar, a machine that emits pulses of sound, which travel easily through water, and reflects off solid objects using a device that lives inside of a heavy, torpedo-shaped case that’s towed behind a boat. Software then translates those reflections into images displayed on a computer aboard the boat.

Yesterday, Media Director Hunter D’Antuono and I visited with Sandy and Gene Ralston, the owners of a sonar device who traveled from outside of Boise, Idaho to the Hungry Horse Reservoir to help search for Rea for the second time since last year.

The Ralstons have helped locate more than 100 bodies with sonar over the last 25 years, which includes drowning and homicide victims. They have found bodies in depths hundreds of feet below the water surface, including the body of a man who had been submerged for 29 years more than 500 feet deep in Lake François in British Columbia.

Families typically reach out to the Ralstons when search efforts conducted by local agencies have been exhausted. In Rea’s case – the sheriff’s office continues its search, but resources have drastically scaled back over the past year.

After searching hundreds of bodies of water over the years, the Ralstons describe the Hungry Horse Reservoir as extremely challenging terrain to navigate. Unlike the bottom of a natural watershed like Flathead Lake, the bottom of the reservoir contains things like a standing telephone line, old building foundation and other mysterious items that existed before the Hungry Horse Dam was built.

“We’ve found some interesting things, but we don’t really know what they are,” Gene said.

While law enforcement officials are fairly certain Rea drowned, other avenues are being explored by friends and family members, and they are raising money to fund a private investigator to look into her disappearance.

According to the “Eyes for Emily” campaign, her disappearance is described as “troubling and inconsistent with a simple water accident,” implying that foul play is suspected. In addition to a private investigator, Rea’s loved ones are requesting federal assistance and describe several “anomalies” that are inconsistent with an accidental drowning.

During my conversation with the Ralstons, I also spoke with Cory Reeves, who helps out on searches after the couple located his father-in-law in Placid Lake years ago. He empathizes with families of missing relatives and described the month of severe psychological distress he experienced before his father-in-law’s body was recovered.

“It was hell. Your mind starts playing games.”

I’m Maggie Dresser, here wishing you a Happy Friday the 13^th with today’s Daily Roundup!