Found Deceased MT - Rebekah Barsotti 33, & dog (fnd deceased), Town Pump, Superior, Mineral Co, 20 Jul 2021 *Reward

[laurawlms]

Just thinking out loud, I'm wondering about the situation with the dog. I can think of three ways for the dog to drown. (I am not an expert of anything) 1) It would have had to have been wounded , 2) it was held underwater by its leash, 3) a human purposefully harmed it.

The area where RB and her dog went missing is a climbing area. Could RB and the dog have fallen from the climbing rock?

If RB was accidentally washed or fell into the river, maybe she was walking the dog and held the leash and dragged the dog along?

@laurawlms , I know you said there was no necropsy on the dog so I assume that you cannot verify either 1) the dog drowned and 2) the dog still leashed?

I'm not really hypothesizing anything, just trying to think about some aspects of this case.

IMO

Thank you for thinking out loud. From what I know, the dog was not on a leash he had on an E-collar. Rebekah's mom has said she gets told different items being found on the riverbank depending on who she talks to. My first day in MT after Rebekah went missing, the first deputy on the scene (from Mineral County Sheriff Office) met me and Rebekah's mom at the scene where he said the items were found on the riverbank. From my memory of what he said was found on the riverbank, the leash was an item found along with Rebekah's cell phone, e-collar remote, a shirt, and a hat. Nobody knows if Rebekah and her dog could have fallen from the climbing rock. But, Rebekah's mom shared that the climbing rock area has been cleared by Missoula SAR.

Since there was no necropsy, drowning was determined only by what the vet was being told. My vet has always told me, if you want to know the true reason for an animal's death necropsy, otherwise you are only getting a best guess based on info obtained, which can be skewed.

Mineral County Sheriff's office think Rebekah's dog got caught in a current and panicked, Rebekah went in to help the dog and also got caught in the current and drowned. The dog was found 10 miles down river (further down than they were going to search) and Rebekah still has not been found 52 days later. The issue is nobody saw Rebekah there and nobody saw her go in the river. Their theory is based on (from what I'm being told by her mom) a video on Rebekah's phone of her training hand commands with her dog on the riverbank This is a busy recreation area from what I saw when I was there. But Mineral County has always handled this as a drowning and no search dogs were brought in to track her scent to determine if she went in the river. The deputy told me on the riverbank this wasn't and isn't being investigated as a crime so there was no reason to bring in dogs, secure the area, fingerprint items found on the riverbank, or fingerprint her vehicle.

 

[Wild Rose]

Does that video footage show Rebekah and/or her dog training in the river? If not, accidental drowning shaky conclusion when she had filed charges and witnesses said that he would drown her. At the least, did they send out her cell to check her phone if hidden tracking devices were installed by her husband??? He had to have found a way to follow her or know her wheteabouts IMO. How can this not be investigated as a crime?

 

[Wild Rose]

Also, was her vehicle impounded to search for tracking devices??? Had her internet server been hacked????

 

[laurawlms]

Not to argue, but imho any animal can be caught in current & unable to swim to shore & drown after becoming exhausted. The water could be very cold, hypothermia contributing to the problem.

jmho ymmv lrr

I agree drowning is one of many possible scenarios. However, the cold water should have preserved the dogs organs and the vet should have known that. The vet told Rebekah's mom the dog was too badly decomposed to perform a necropsy. The dog was found 10 miles down river still in the water but close to the riverbank.

 

[laurawlms]

Who has her personal items that were found ? I would request them if LE has them. Bag them up and hope at some point they will be tested. Same with the car.
I would imagine she is in the water somewhere. Very very sorry your here.

Thank you. LE still has her personal belongings as well as her vehicle. I'm assuming because it is still an active investigation?? It becomes tricky here. Who do they give the personal belongings to? The estranged husband is considered next of kin. But they were separated, living apart after an assault charge was filed by Rebekah and a No Contact Order issued. Of course, since her mom is considering other scenarios she would like these things.

 

[laurawlms]

Thank you for being here.
What a deeply disturbing case!
May I ask i the dog was positively identified as her dog?
I'm disturbed at the failure to undertake a necropsy, no matter how much decomposition has taken place.
Dogs don't drown very often, do they?

This is heart breaking and we will do everything we can to help.

Thank you. I was told by Rebekah's mom, the dog was positively identified by a vet that claimed to be Rebekah's vet but later found to be a friend of the estranged husband. So, understandably Rebekah's mom was concerned by this and feels its another SNAFU (my word not hers).

From what I have heard about this breed they are strong swimmers.

 

[laurawlms]

And this is what it looked like in July'21
Google Maps

Yes. A little more crowded though. Rebekah's belongings were found on the other side of the climbing rock in the picture, which is also a populated area more so with vehicles and people in a parking area on the river rocks.

 

[kittythehare]

Yes. A little more crowded though. Rebekah's belongings were found on the other side of the climbing rock in the picture, which is also a populated area more so with vehicles and people in a parking area on the river rocks.

How deep was the river on the other side of that rock? It seems very shallow.

 

[kittythehare]

Thank you. I was told by Rebekah's mom, the dog was positively identified by a vet that claimed to be Rebekah's vet but later found to be a friend of the estranged husband. So, understandably Rebekah's mom was concerned by this and feels its another SNAFU (my word not hers).

From what I have heard about this breed they are strong swimmers.

So it may not have been her dog at all?
My God, this is a minefield, isn't it?
It's almost breath-taking- the wall of dense silence?
I'm glad you are here.
It's quite terrifying, such a young girl and her beautiful dog..
Between us , we'll try to think of a way to sleuth this, we'll try to find her.

Have you spoken with any SAR groups at all?
They will always have a good starting point.
It's worth calling them for advice, at least.

 

[laurawlms]

Thank you for posting this, the river in the recent summer photos looks quite different than the rapid water during spring run off.
It's hard to see how a dog could travel 10 miles in that water, in the recent photos posted at this location on Google maps it's so shallow that there are people sitting in the river and a man standing in the river and the water only hits his thighs.
I don't doubt that it gets deeper in spots and wonder if RB is a swimmer, this is not a treacherous place to swim in the summer and looks like a busy, popular spot for community recreation.
I wonder who had the video of her there training her dog and how many people were there that day.
Did SAR search all the way from where she allegedly went missing for 10 miles down river or did someone else find her dog and SAR then went and recovered the dog's body?
Just because there is video and her "scattered" things (?!) near the climbing wall doesn't mean that's where the dog entered the water.
I hope more searches are done around the area they found her dog.

I don't understand why LE didn't take the e collar as evidence for a missing person case, especially if it was the type with GPS, but there is also a hand held control with these, I wonder if that was with her "scattered things"?
If not, who took it?
It makes no sense that the vet could not cut off an e collar before cremation. It's not rocket science.

You are correct about the river being shallow and many locals have made the same comment about that in the LE Facebook posts about the incident.

It is my understanding it was Rebekah recording herself doing the training with the dog. However, the information I get about this video from Rebekah's mom is minimal. It could be because she has minimal information about it too.

It's hard to explain why the area where Rebekah's dog was found was being searched. They searched that area based on a request by me and Rebekah's mom. Since the owner of this site says LE does check it, I will only say it was based on mother's intuition based on coincidental information pertaining to the number 69 that I shared with Rebekah's mom. Based on the coincidence in that number we were trying to get to the river around mile marker 69 on I-90. From what we could find on maps, the only way to get there was to get off exit 66 and hike to the area, which was difficult. The day we met the first deputy on the scene at the scene where Rekakah's belongings were found, Rebekah's mom asked if they would search that area based solely on mother's intuition. The deputy said he would see what he could do and the next day they searched the area and found the dog. We had hoped more searching would take place in that are especially in the forest but to my knowledge that wasn't done.

I don't believe the E Collar was the type with GPS. Rebekah's mom found an e-collar box at Rebekah's residence and GPS was not listed on the box. I said the same about the vet cutting off the e-collar.

 

[laurawlms]

My fear is that the dog went to protect her. And then she would go to protect her dog. How awful. Was there ever a warrant to search husband and belongings? That should have been basic in lieu of his threats IMOO.

No warrant was ever issued to search the husband, his belongings, the marital residence, or the property, which is directly on the Clark Ford River. I can only say I was told the husband is not a suspect and never has been. I was told he has an alibi but that could have been me pressing Rebekah's mom as to why he wasn't a suspect and her reply being because he has an alibi. Rebekah's mom has asked for the search of the marital residence and property and she said she was told they don't have probably cause to do that.

 

[laurawlms]

So it may not have been her dog at all?
My God, this is a minefield, isn't it?
It's almost breath-taking- the wall of dense silence?
I'm glad you are here.
It's quite terrifying, such a young girl and her beautiful dog..
Between us , we'll try to think of a way to sleuth this, we'll try to find her.

Have you spoken with any SAR groups at all?
They will always have a good starting point.
It's worth calling them for advice, at least.

I believe Rebekah's mom as well as others have reached out to non profit SAR groups. They all say they have to be invited by the Sheriff. I'm not sure if she has asked for advice from them but that is a great idea. Thank you.

 

[laurawlms]

How deep was the river on the other side of that rock? It seems very shallow.

I'm not sure how deep the river is on the other side of the rock. It doesn't have the sand bars on that side though. Someone did a water test with weighted jugs and sent it to messenger on the Find Rebekah facebook page and he said according to his test the current is not strong enough to pull a person under. I have tried to save those videos to my desk top with no success. They are interesting, so if I figure out how to share I will.

 

[laurawlms]

Does that video footage show Rebekah and/or her dog training in the river? If not, accidental drowning shaky conclusion when she had filed charges and witnesses said that he would drown her. At the least, did they send out her cell to check her phone if hidden tracking devices were installed by her husband??? He had to have found a way to follow her or know her wheteabouts IMO. How can this not be investigated as a crime?

To my knowledge the video showed the training on the riverbank.

The cellphone had to be sent out to be unlocked then the data downloaded. This is how they found the video footage of the training. I want to point out the unlocking of the phone and downloading of data was several days after Rebekah went missing (almost a week). That is when they found the video of Rebekah training the dog.

I'm not sure if the phone has been checked for tracking devices and I'm not sure if the vehicle was checked for tracking devices either. The vehicle is impounded though.

 

[kittythehare]

I'm not sure how deep the river is on the other side of the rock. It doesn't have the sand bars on that side though. Someone did a water test with weighted jugs and sent it to messenger on the Find Rebekah facebook page and he said according to his test the current is not strong enough to pull a person under. I have tried to save those videos to my desk top with no success. They are interesting, so if I figure out how to share I will.

Where was Rebekah living at the time of her disappearance and has that home been searched thoroughly?
If her ex's alibi pans out it's not to say he didn't arrange for someone else to do something on his behalf, is that a possibility?

 

[Wild Rose]

Did an average citizen or LE do the water jug test?? Has Rebekah's mom contacted any newspapers or other media?

 

[laurawlms]

Thank you for posting this, the river in the recent summer photos looks quite different than the rapid water during spring run off.
It's hard to see how a dog could travel 10 miles in that water, in the recent photos posted at this location on Google maps it's so shallow that there are people sitting in the river and a man standing in the river and the water only hits his thighs.
I don't doubt that it gets deeper in spots and wonder if RB is a swimmer, this is not a treacherous place to swim in the summer and looks like a busy, popular spot for community recreation.
I wonder who had the video of her there training her dog and how many people were there that day.
Did SAR search all the way from where she allegedly went missing for 10 miles down river or did someone else find her dog and SAR then went and recovered the dog's body?
Just because there is video and her "scattered" things (?!) near the climbing wall doesn't mean that's where the dog entered the water.
I hope more searches are done around the area they found her dog.

I don't understand why LE didn't take the e collar as evidence for a missing person case, especially if it was the type with GPS, but there is also a hand held control with these, I wonder if that was with her "scattered things"?
If not, who took it?
It makes no sense that the vet could not cut off an e collar before cremation. It's not rocket science.

You asked: "Did SAR search all the way from where she allegedly went missing for 10 miles down river or did someone else find her dog and SAR then went and recovered the dog's body?"

No according to a Mineral County Sheriff rep., the search team entered the river from Tarkio Fishing Access and traveled East about 1 mile where they found the dog. The miles traveled are river miles.

Google Maps

So from the access about 1 river mile east is where you see "Rock Creek". There is a sandy riverbank (north) and it is around that area the dog was found. This is consistent with marking 10 river miles west from the Alberton Climbing Rock.

I don't know if SAR has ever traveled the 10 miles from the Alberton Rock climbing area to where the dog was found. I believe some volunteers from the community have.

 

[Bit of hope]

Not to argue, but imho any animal can be caught in current & unable to swim to shore & drown after becoming exhausted. The water could be very cold, hypothermia contributing to the problem.

jmho ymmv lrr

I tend to agree, maybe the dog jumped into the water seeing his boss in trouble....and there was no way it could get ashore again.

 

[laurawlms]

Where was Rebekah living at the time of her disappearance and has that home been searched thoroughly?
If her ex's alibi pans out it's not to say he didn't arrange for someone else to do something on his behalf, is that a possibility?

Rebekah has moved to Missoula from Superior, MT. I do believe her home was skimmed. I don't believe they went in there and took fingerprints, etc.

As far as the ex arranging someone else to do something on his behalf, yes I feel that is possible. There are other possible scenarios too, however. At this point anything is possible since searching the river has not produced Rebekah as of day 52.

 

[laurawlms]

Did an average citizen or LE do the water jug test?? Has Rebekah's mom contacted any newspapers or other media?

The water test was performed by a community volunteer. Rebekah's mom has spoke to Kpax, Missoulian, and 3 weeks ago she did an interview with NBC Montana that has never aired.