Found Deceased MT - Sally Demarais-Smith, 52, found in vehicle in storage unit, Great Falls, 25 Sept 2020

How do they know that she’s the one that wrote the note? How do they know that somebody didn’t make her write the note? I wonder if anyone that she knows has the news stories about the other missing woman that was found in a storage container in history on their cell phone?
IMO the family would have recognized her handwriting. IF the note wasn't there when they went to bed, she would have been forced to write it with them in the house. We have to wait for COD, but leaving of her own accord seems the most likely scenario to me.
 
How in the world has this happened to 2 different women in a little more than a month? (Marilane Carter). It is dumbfounding.

There was also a woman in South Dakota who was missing for around a week. She was found deceased inside her vehicle which was parked in an empty garage at her apartment complex. That was in late summer iirc.
 
Is it normal for people to have storage units that are empty enough to fit a car in them? We’ve only used storage units as temporary storage when moving, each time we got the smallest one and filled it to the brim.

I wonder what they used the storage unit for?
 
Every storage unit I've ever used, you couldn't fit a Matchbox car in it, let alone a real car.

Could there be a reason that they had it, but it was empty at the time? Or at least empty enough that a vehicle fit?
 
Is it normal for people to have storage units that are empty enough to fit a car in them? We’ve only used storage units as temporary storage when moving, each time we got the smallest one and filled it to the brim.

I wonder what they used the storage unit for?
Here in MT storage units are a hot commodity. Every person I know has a storage unit. Some people use it to hold Winter items in the summer and vice versa. Families have them to hold their outdoor activity supplies/equipment. (i.e. hunting, fishing equipment, camping gear, etc.) Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in since I do live here.

ETA: When we can't find a small unit we have to rent the ones that are available. There are 10x20 & 20x40 units available to rent because the storage facilities seem to always make the bigger units rather than a bunch of small ones.
 
Every storage unit I've ever used, you couldn't fit a Matchbox car in it, let alone a real car.

Could there be a reason that they had it, but it was empty at the time? Or at least empty enough that a vehicle fit?


The units there are 4 structures, WAG in the 24x36 range, each with 4 8x7 (guessing by looks/experience) overhead/garage doors. Bing let me street-view.
 
Does anyone have a timeline created?

From what I’ve gathered:

September 25: last sighting in family home (by whom?)
September 26: family notices she’s missing
September 29: missing persons report filed
October 11: found deceased

What happened Friday evening that no one noticed she was missing? Initial reports say she may have left early Saturday morning. Why? If she was last seen Friday afternoon, why wasn’t their concern earlier?

Maybe I’m paranoid because of being interested in missing persons cases, but we have find my iPhone on all of our devices. If my husband is traveling alone, I’ll use it to check on him so I’m not distracting him while driving. He’ll text when he stops for gas or bathroom breaks, he does the same if I travel without him.

How did 4 kids and husband not communicate at all with her all of Friday evening without being concerned? Who was in the house Friday evening/night?
 
Investigation continues into the death of Sally Demarais-Smith

The Cascade County Sheriff's Office is continuing its investigation into the death of Sally Jane Demarais-Smith, who was found dead on Sunday afternoon.

Slaughter said an autopsy was conducted earlier this week, and officials are continuing to review the results; as of Wednesday, he was not able to provide any details about the possible cause or manner of her death.
I'm not finding any updates - if this was not her storage unit - then how did she gain entrance?
 
Investigation continues into the death of Sally Demarais-Smith

Smith, a 52-year-old mother beloved by the Great Falls community, had been missing since September 25. She was last seen that afternoon. Police reported that she may have been on her way to the Malta area before going missing. GFPD requested a Missing/Endangered Person Alert for Smith from the Montana Department of Justice on September 29.

The search for Sally Smith continues, family heartbroken after disappearance

Sally Smith disappeared after leaving a note saying she was going to visit her parents for a few days and hasn't been seen or heard from in over 10 days.

The two things strike me as interesting.

Who was the last person to see her? It seems plausible that the last person to see her wasn't her husband or family, right? Otherwise, why would there be a note?

Also, it's not stated that she left the note for her family/husband but that's to be assumed, right? Why leave a note for someone that you see regularly? If I was running out of town, I would call or text my husband - not leave a note. Was that normal behavior for her?

ETA:

Also this:

The search for Sally Smith continues, family heartbroken after disappearance

Sally was last seen at her home in Great Falls on September 25, 2020. She left the house in a 2005 gold Toyota Corolla.

So... who was the note for?
 
Last edited:
Sorry
Investigation continues into the death of Sally Demarais-Smith



The search for Sally Smith continues, family heartbroken after disappearance



The two things strike me as interesting.

Who was the last person to see her? It seems plausible that the last person to see her wasn't her husband or family, right? Otherwise, why would there be a note?

Also, it's not stated that she left the note for her family/husband but that's to be assumed, right? Why leave a note for someone that you see regularly? If I was running out of town, I would call or text my husband - not leave a note. Was that normal behavior for her?


In response to your last paragraph. If this was common, is there anything in the note to indicate the date the note was written? Where was the note left/found? Who found it? Was it indeed written that day? Or if there was foul play involved, was an old note dug up and used to throw everyone off?

Missing persons report was filed the 29th, she “left” the 25th.

When and where did her phone last ping?
 
Sorry



In response to your last paragraph. If this was common, is there anything in the note to indicate the date the note was written? Where was the note left/found? Who found it? Was it indeed written that day? Or if there was foul play involved, was an old note dug up and used to throw everyone off?

Missing persons report was filed the 29th, she “left” the 25th.

When and where did her phone last ping?

I'm curious how you'd know how someone left the house (the last place she was seen) in a specific car where she also happened to have left a note where she was going? Is this just crappy reporting or does it make no sense?
 
Is it normal for people to have storage units that are empty enough to fit a car in them? We’ve only used storage units as temporary storage when moving, each time we got the smallest one and filled it to the brim.

I wonder what they used the storage unit for?

We have a 12’X 32’ unit that we store two Polaris RZR’s in. One a two seater, the other a four seater. Sometimes it’s empty for a month at a time if they are in the shop getting things fixed after a weekend of riding in the mud. There have been times when the four seater was in the shop and I put my Lincoln Navigator in it with the two seater if we were expecting hail as it’s less than a mile from our home. Before we had the RZRs we stored a 22’ boat in it.
 
I'm curious how you'd know how someone left the house (the last place she was seen) in a specific car where she also happened to have left a note where she was going? Is this just crappy reporting or does it make no sense?
I’m trying to come up with ideas of how she was seen last at home but then left a note.

this is all conjecture:
Let’s say the husband was at work, kids were at school. Neighbor sees sally at 1:00, so we have a last seen at home Friday afternoon sighting.

From there honestly I’m lost. The kids get home from school, see the note and think “yup, ok totally normal, nothing to see here”.

Dad gets home sees note, again everything is fine. Saturday rolls around and then “oh wait, where did she go? I’m going to start looking for her” Monday rolls around and they file a missing persons report.

All just thinking, trying to understand timelines and what could have actually happened here.
 

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