The search for a missing Missouri woman came to a tragic conclusion on Tuesday when officials announced they had found her body. Emily Strite, 34, was first reported missing by her mother on April 20, after last being seen in the De Soto area on April 12. Authorities previously noted that Strite left “of her own free will.”
On Saturday, Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a property owner’s report of skeletal remains discovered in a wooded area in De Soto. The remains were taken to the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, where they were identified as Strite using medical and dental records.
The cause of death has not yet been determined, and investigators are working to understand how Strite’s body ended up at the site where it was found.
Strite’s mother, Charlyn McClain, shared with Dateline that her daughter had been staying with a friend in De Soto prior to her disappearance. Strite was a mother of four children, ranging in age from three to 17, with her three youngest children living with their father. McClain last spoke to her daughter when Strite said she was going to visit her children, a routine occurrence.
“I assumed she was with Steve,” McClain said, referring to Steve Fults, the father of Strite’s younger children. A week later, McClain received an unexpected call from Fults, who asked if she had heard from her daughter, as Strite never informed him of any plans to visit the children.
Strite and Fults had ended their relationship in 2022 but stayed in contact for the sake of their children. McClain recalled that Fults had never called her with concerns about Emily before, which heightened her alarm.
Grant Bissell, Public Safety Information Officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, stated there are currently no suspects or persons of interest in Strite’s disappearance. Authorities have found no evidence of foul play or a crime at this time.