“Everybody loved her.” That’s how Stephanie Houchins describes her older sister Danielle. Stephanie, now in her 30s, has been without her big sister for two-thirds of her life. “She had this crazy, dry sense of humor and you knew she really loved you if she started playing tricks on you. That’s just who she was,” Stephanie said.
In 1996, on Saturday, September 21st, 15-year-old Danielle Houchins left her home in Belgrade and drove out to Cameron Bridge Fishing Access Site. When the teenager did not return home, her mother Sheryl went to look for her. She found Danielle’s truck parked at the fishing access—unlocked and empty. The keys to Danielle’s truck and her water bottle were laying in the middle of a trail, a few feet away.
Sheryl immediately knew something was wrong and began frantically searching for her daughter. Eventually the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office and Search & Rescue were called in. Several hours after she was reported missing, the body of Danielle Houchins was found, face down, in a marshy area of Cameron Bridge.
What happened to Danielle? “Someone was out there with my sister. And someone did this to her.”
Watch “Murder at Cameron Bridge: Who Killed Danielle Houchins?” on Saturday, April 24, at 6 pm on KRTV Great Falls.
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