The body of Julie Capdeville Freeman was recovered from the Yellowstone River on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, by the Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office and Stillwater County Search & Rescue personnel.
The Stillwater River flows into the Yellowstone River just west of Columbus.
Undersheriff/Deputy Coroner Randy Smith said that Freeman was 44 years old and a resident of Laurel.
Freeman was one of five people who fell into the nearby Stillwater River on Sunday, June 5, when their raft capsized.
Two adults and a child were rescued, and a search began for Freeman.
Freeman was not wearing a life jacket at the time, according to Smith.
An autopsy has been scheduled for Thursday, June 9.
(JUNE 6, 2022) The Stillwater County Sheriff's Office says five people were aboard a raft that overturned and wrapped around a bridge pier on the Stillwater River southwest of Columbus on Sunday, June 5, 2022.
It happened at an area known as the Beartooth Drop, a wide ledge spanning nearly the expanse of the Stillwater River below the Swinging Bridge Fishing Access Site.
A woman in her 40s is still missing in the river; search and rescue operations were suspended at nightfall and will resume on Monday.
Undersheriff Randy Smith says the call of the overturned raft came in at 1:11 p.m. on Sunday and rescuers were able to pull two adults and a child to safety from the raft. None of them were injured.
Smith says the woman currently missing in the river was not wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) at the time of the incident.
Smith says all of the people were from the area; their identities are not being released.
Several agencies are assisting in the search and boaters and recreators are asked to stay off those sections of the rivers.
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