Missing woman and two dogs found dead, Oregon cops say. ‘Unimaginable tragedy’
The search for a missing 61-year-old woman has come to an end after her body was discovered in Oregon a week after she vanished, deputies said.
Susan “Phoenix” Lane-Fournier was found dead Friday, Nov. 29 near U.S. Route 26 and East Miller Road, just south of her Brightwood home, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
Brightwood is west of Mount Hood.
Deputies said they also believe they found her two dogs dead the next day. Investigators are working to confirm their identities.
Her 71-year-old husband, Michel “Mike” Fournier, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder shortly after the discovery of her body, deputies said.
He is in jail where he’s being held without bail.
Lane-Fournier had filed for divorce weeks before her death, according to online court records.
Her community rallied for a week to get the word out about Lane-Fournier’s disappearance by putting up missing person flyers and sharing information about her case.
“Our tight-knit mountain community has been shaken to its core by an unimaginable tragedy,” a GoFundMe page says.
Now, the group is working to raise money for her adult sons, Kota and Jesse, who need help with funeral expenses, housing, legal fees and counseling.
“Phoenix was a bright light in our lives, and while we can never bring her back, we can stand together to honor her memory by helping her sons move forward,” the donation page says.
A vigil to honor Lane-Fournier is being held at the Hoodland Bazaar at 6 p.m. Dec. 2.
.png "Screenshot (37).png")
Timeline of events
Lane-Fournier never showed up to work Nov. 22 at the Hoodland Bazaar in Welches, McClatchy News previously reported.
The next day, her friend Cari Gesch was hiking the Old Salmon River Trail when she spotted her friend’s white 1992 Ford F-250 parked suspiciously along Salmon River Road.
Search and rescue teams then spent four days and over 800 hours looking for her in the area, deputies said.
Those efforts ended because of weather conditions and the “likelihood of survivability,” deputies said.
Her body was found closer to her home in Brightwood than where search teams began looking for her near the trail.
This story was originally published December 2, 2024 at 9:04 AM with the headline "Missing woman and two dogs found dead, Oregon cops say. ‘Unimaginable tragedy’."
