Emily Strite missing Missouri remains found in private field in Deo Soto with cause of death yet to be determined in mystery death. No foul play suspected. Many unanswered questions.
The remains of a Missouri mom who went missing in April have been found in a wooded area on private property in De Soto, Jefferson County.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said the remains were found by the property owner on Saturday and confirmed to be Emily Strite, 34, by the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.
‘On September 28th, Deputies responded to a wooded area near the 4100 block of Frissell Road in De Soto for a report of human skeletal remains found by the property owner,’ authorities said.
Where had Emily Strite gone after having left her friend’s residence?
The sheriff’s office said the cause of death is so far undetermined, and investigators are trying to determine how Strite’s body ended up at the private property.
Strite — whose friends say she was in and out of an abusive relationship with the father of her youngest child — was last seen leaving a friend’s house on foot in the De Soto area where she was staying on April 12, according to police.
The sheriff’s office said at the time it believed Strite left by foot her own ‘free will.’ Family members said she had four children, ranging in age from 3 to 17, and may have been going to see the three younger children and their father in Illinois when she disappeared.
Panic set in a week later when the children’s father contacted Stite’s mother, Charlyn McCalin, to tell her he hadn’t heard from Strite in over a week, adding that he was unaware of her plans to visit the their children.
Strite’s mother in turn reported her missing on April 20 KTVI reported.
Unanswered questions
It remained unclear how the children came to be solely living with their father and the implication the parent had sole custody of the couple’s children.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Information Coordinator Grant Bissell told PEOPLE in a statement that ‘there is no indication of foul play in either her disappearance or her death. So, without a crime, there can’t be a suspect.’
McCalin told Dateline that Emily was ‘the most happy person. The most caring person.’
Not immediately clear is whether Strite may have been dealing with mental health issues, homelessness and addiction (as some commentators speculated) and whether she may have taken her own life? Also not clear is how the mom of four came to end up staying with the friend along with her general place of abode and work (if at all?) prior to ending up at the friend’s residence.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau at 636-797-5515.
