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

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laurawlms

Verified family member - Rebekah Barsotti thread
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My niece, Rebecca Barsotti, was last seen July 20, 2021, at 2:15 pm at the Town Pump in Superior, MT. According to Law Enforcement, she and her dog went missing from the Clark Fork River, I 90 exit 71 rest area (Alberton Rest Area/ Alberton Rock Climbing), in Mineral County Montana on that same day. Mineral County Sheriff’s Office believe Rebekah and her dog drowned. The Mineral County Sheriff’s Office base their river drowning theory on the fact Rebekah’s vehicle was parked /deserted at the rest area and some personal belongings were found scattered on the east side of the climbing rock’s riverbank. There was later found a video of Rebekah training her dog on Rebekah’s phone recorded at this location. The last ping on Rebekah’s phone was at 3:15. A passerby claimed to have found Rebekah’s belongings on the riverbank and called MT Highway Patrol. They arrived and in turn called Mineral County Sheriff Office. The scene where Rebekah’s belongings were found on the riverbank was never secured, fingerprints were never taken from her personal items, fingerprints were never taken from the vehicle, and scent dogs were never brought in to determine if Rebekah in fact went in the river. Nobody saw Rebekah go in the river. The incident, according to the first Mineral County Sheriff deputy on the scene, was always considered a river accident and not a crime which is why those investigative measures were never taken. The Mineral County Sheriff’s Department and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department have been working the search and rescue on the river. At one point their search efforts were discontinued but they later resumed but scaled back to twice a week. As of today, that might have ceased as well. Search crews recovered Rebekah’s dog on Monday July 26, 2021, approximately 10 miles downriver from where Rebekah’s personal belongings and vehicle were found. Further down river than they expected. No necropsy of the dog was performed Thevet said the dog was too decomposed. This is contrary to what Mineral County was stating (they were stating necropsy performed). The dog was cremated with its e-collar on because the vet claimed she could not remove it. It was discovered after cremation of Rebekah’s dog that the vet that claimed the dog was too decomposed to necropsy and the estranged husband are friends. Members of the local community formed small (primarily water) search teams daily beginning Friday 7/30/21 but even that has since scaled back due to expense and fear of repercussions. Rebekah is still missing.


Rebekah had recently left an abusive marriage, filed assault charges and had a No Contact Order (March 2021) because she feared for herself and her dog. Someone said Rebekah’s husband threatened to drown Rebekah and her dog two weeks prior (prior to July 20, 2021). Rebekah’s estranged husband continued making threats on Rebekah and her dog’s life per text conversations between Rebekah and her mother, which both Sheriff’s Departments are aware of. The estranged husband is due in court in September 2021 for the assault charge.

Rebekah went missing after meeting her estranged husband’s “caretaker” (better explanation on this below) at a gas station (Town Pump Superior, MT) for an exchange of Rebekah’s personal items from the marital home.

Mineral County Sheriff Office and Missoula County Sheriff office refuse to investigate as a domestic violence issue and say the husband is not a suspect and he never will be despite the allegations of domestic violence, he supposedly has an alibi. They also will not entertain any other number of possible scenarios such as abduction, human trafficking, etc.

Search efforts are only being handled as a search for a missing woman, victim of a water accident, on the river. Land searches are not taking place by law enforcement (except at boat launch and exit areas). Many nonprofit SAR groups have offered to help but law enforcement will not invite them to search.

We have learned that the estranged husband has held himself out to be an ex-marine in special ops and has disabilities from war that render him almost an invalid. The husband had a previous wife convinced of this as well as his current wife (my niece Rebekah) her family, the VA, and law-enforcement. A man that once worked for the estranged husband when he owned TreadstoneConstruction Company has confirmed the estranged husband lived this military lie with different versions. The truth (from the employee) is the husband never completed Marine boot camp. He apparently was injured in training at bootcamp and discharged. But according to this previous employee even this scenariohad a grandeur twist of a top-secret operation in boot camp rendering him disabled. The husband is a pathological liar, telling lies to cover lies, which renders him dangerous, and he should be suspect in his current wife’s disappearance. The estranged husband has even gone so far as to claim he retired from the marines and fabricates a humanitarian effort for service members with no one to share Thanksgiving with called “orphans thanksgiving”.


Thanksgiving dinner a big hit at Bootlegger's Bar

Thanksgiving dinner a big hit at Bootlegger's Bar

The estranged husband did not retire from the military, he didn’t do 20 years, and he never went overseas to come back to no one to spend thanksgiving with.

According to the previous employee, “David is perhaps the most narcissistic compulsively lying sociopath he has ever met, and he puts nothing past him. “

We have since learned that he was also physically and mentally violent in his previous marriage which ended in divorce and the previous wife still fears for her life. The previous wife has called both Sheriff’sDepartments to provide information about her life experiences with her ex-husband now Rebekah’s estranged husband.

We have contacted Montana Department of Crime Investigations, Montana Dept of Justice, and FBI, with no success for intervention. We have attempted to find national help to make Rebekah’s disappearance go national with no luck.

Per a phone call to the MT Highway Patrol for a copy of their report, they claim they never made a report from their call to the scene.
 

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Very sorry that your family is going through this. What is the husband's alibi? I'd hope it's something concrete since they're completely marking him off despite his threat 2 weeks earlier. You mention "fear of repercussions" - what exactly do you mean?
Also, regardless of whether it's a crime or an accident, I believe certain measures must be taken by authorities, such as a search of the area / river.
 
Welcome to Websleuths, @laurawlms! So sorry to "meet" you in this situation.

Keep reminding the news media is my suggestion, and maintain contact with LE.

https://www.krtv.com/news/montana-a...ching-for-a-woman-last-seen-in-mineral-county

Search and Rescue boat team going out once a week to look for missing woman

jmho ymmv lrr

Thank you for your suggestions. My sister (Rebekah's mom) has been in MT since 7/22/21. She does maintain contact with LE. She did an interview with NBC Montana 3 weeks ago that still has not aired. That is the first time she actually spoke of the domestic violence in the marriage and her concerns that land search should be started since nothing has produced from river searches. She is coordinating volunteer search efforts, candlelight and prayer vigils, and domestic violence awareness in an attempt to keep the media interested.
 
Very sorry that your family is going through this. What is the husband's alibi? I'd hope it's something concrete since they're completely marking him off despite his threat 2 weeks earlier. You mention "fear of repercussions" - what exactly do you mean?
Also, regardless of whether it's a crime or an accident, I believe certain measures must be taken by authorities, such as a search of the area / river.

The husband's alibi has not been shared with Rebekah's mom. It's just been commented to her that he has one. Mineral County Sheriff did come out and say no family member is a suspect (in the article posted above by Laughing). Some community members have expressed concern, if the husband is involved and there was foul play then what could he possibly do to them for helping. I should note, the estranged husband has never attempted to help in the search efforts. My sister and I both agree, authorities should search the area (land) and river. There were many missed opportunities for outside help within the first 72 hours of Rebekah going missing.
 
MOD NOTE

Welcome to all new members of Websleuths who have joined to discuss the missing person case of Rebekah Barsotti. This note is especially for family and friends of Rebekah. We are sorry that these difficult circumstances brought you here.

Websleuths is a fact-based discussion site. Accordingly, anything you post as fact MUST be substantiated by a link to MSM (mainstream media publication). If you can’t link it, it can’t be posted, unless it is your opinion, and then you must state that it is opinion with a qualifier in your post.

The exceptions to this are IF you are close to the case as a friend or family, OR if you have professional expertise in procedural protocols in similar cases. Then we encourage you to apply for Verified Insider status. That allows you to state info you know to be true without the need for substantiating links. The VI process involves providing info via email to our Verification staff member, and may take a day or so. VI’s remain anonymous to the members, but your profile will be labeled Verified Insider. If a member chooses not to apply for VI status, any inside info they have posted may be removed if it does not contain substantiation. Websleuths believes it is important to vet those discussing inside details on the threads in an effort to protect the victims, their family and friends, and our members from unsubstantiated info. Rumors are not permitted on Websleuths.
HERE are the details of applying for VI status:
VERIFIED INSIDER PROCESS

If you are close to Rebekah’s case, please consider applying for VI status so that you can share what you know to be true without links. Any posts that have been removed can be reinstated after you are designated a VI for Rebekah’s case.
May she be found soon and safe.

Faithfully,
CocoChanel
Administrator/Moderator
 
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Hi everyone,

We have now verified laurawlms as a family member of Rebekah's. As a Verified family member, laurawlms is allowed to share her knowledge and inside information about this case without having to provide links to support what she states as fact.

Our VI's posts that were removed pending verification have been reinstated.

Please be respectful to our VI at all times. You may ask questions but do not argue with them or badger them for information they may not have or may not wish to share for whatever reason.

Thank you to laurawlms and to everyone for being here to discuss Rebekah's case.
 
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Since I wrote my introduction Monday 9/6/21, I wrote to a local to Missoula nonprofit called Lifeguard seeking their help for possible land search. Both my sister and my cousin had previously corresponded with them for help. I was unclear whether they ever received an official reply from Lifeguard. The Executive Director wrote back and told me they have been involved in at least 2 land search efforts with Missoula County Sheriff Office for Rebekah. This can not be confirmed at this time. Rebekah's mom was told by her Missoula County Sheriff Office contact that Lifeguard has not requested to be invited.

I am writing this since in my initial write up I indicated no land search has been done. We still can't confirm if any land search has been done but there does seem to be confusion surrounding land search and outside resources. I just want to make sure I am transparent in my sharing of information.
 
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
 
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
 
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.
 
My niece, Rebecca Barsotti, was last seen July 20, 2021, at 2:15 pm at the Town Pump in Superior, MT. According to Law Enforcement, she and her dog went missing from the Clark Fork River, I 90 exit 71 rest area (Alberton Rest Area/ Alberton Rock Climbing), in Mineral County Montana on that same day. Mineral County Sheriff’s Office believe Rebekah and her dog drowned. The Mineral County Sheriff’s Office base their river drowning theory on the fact Rebekah’s vehicle was parked /deserted at the rest area and some personal belongings were found scattered on the east side of the climbing rock’s riverbank. There was later found a video of Rebekah training her dog on Rebekah’s phone recorded at this location. The last ping on Rebekah’s phone was at 3:15. A passerby claimed to have found Rebekah’s belongings on the riverbank and called MT Highway Patrol. They arrived and in turn called Mineral County Sheriff Office. The scene where Rebekah’s belongings were found on the riverbank was never secured, fingerprints were never taken from her personal items, fingerprints were never taken from the vehicle, and scent dogs were never brought in to determine if Rebekah in fact went in the river. Nobody saw Rebekah go in the river. The incident, according to the first Mineral County Sheriff deputy on the scene, was always considered a river accident and not a crime which is why those investigative measures were never taken. The Mineral County Sheriff’s Department and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department have been working the search and rescue on the river. At one point their search efforts were discontinued but they later resumed but scaled back to twice a week. As of today, that might have ceased as well. Search crews recovered Rebekah’s dog on Monday July 26, 2021, approximately 10 miles downriver from where Rebekah’s personal belongings and vehicle were found. Further down river than they expected. No necropsy of the dog was performed Thevet said the dog was too decomposed. This is contrary to what Mineral County was stating (they were stating necropsy performed). The dog was cremated with its e-collar on because the vet claimed she could not remove it. It was discovered after cremation of Rebekah’s dog that the vet that claimed the dog was too decomposed to necropsy and the estranged husband are friends. Members of the local community formed small (primarily water) search teams daily beginning Friday 7/30/21 but even that has since scaled back due to expense and fear of repercussions. Rebekah is still missing.


Rebekah had recently left an abusive marriage, filed assault charges and had a No Contact Order (March 2021) because she feared for herself and her dog. Someone said Rebekah’s husband threatened to drown Rebekah and her dog two weeks prior (prior to July 20, 2021). Rebekah’s estranged husband continued making threats on Rebekah and her dog’s life per text conversations between Rebekah and her mother, which both Sheriff’s Departments are aware of. The estranged husband is due in court in September 2021 for the assault charge.

Rebekah went missing after meeting her estranged husband’s “caretaker” (better explanation on this below) at a gas station (Town Pump Superior, MT) for an exchange of Rebekah’s personal items from the marital home.

Mineral County Sheriff Office and Missoula County Sheriff office refuse to investigate as a domestic violence issue and say the husband is not a suspect and he never will be despite the allegations of domestic violence, he supposedly has an alibi. They also will not entertain any other number of possible scenarios such as abduction, human trafficking, etc.

Search efforts are only being handled as a search for a missing woman, victim of a water accident, on the river. Land searches are not taking place by law enforcement (except at boat launch and exit areas). Many nonprofit SAR groups have offered to help but law enforcement will not invite them to search.

We have learned that the estranged husband has held himself out to be an ex-marine in special ops and has disabilities from war that render him almost an invalid. The husband had a previous wife convinced of this as well as his current wife (my niece Rebekah) her family, the VA, and law-enforcement. A man that once worked for the estranged husband when he owned TreadstoneConstruction Company has confirmed the estranged husband lived this military lie with different versions. The truth (from the employee) is the husband never completed Marine boot camp. He apparently was injured in training at bootcamp and discharged. But according to this previous employee even this scenariohad a grandeur twist of a top-secret operation in boot camp rendering him disabled. The husband is a pathological liar, telling lies to cover lies, which renders him dangerous, and he should be suspect in his current wife’s disappearance. The estranged husband has even gone so far as to claim he retired from the marines and fabricates a humanitarian effort for service members with no one to share Thanksgiving with called “orphans thanksgiving”.


Thanksgiving dinner a big hit at Bootlegger's Bar

Thanksgiving dinner a big hit at Bootlegger's Bar

The estranged husband did not retire from the military, he didn’t do 20 years, and he never went overseas to come back to no one to spend thanksgiving with.

According to the previous employee, “David is perhaps the most narcissistic compulsively lying sociopath he has ever met, and he puts nothing past him. “

We have since learned that he was also physically and mentally violent in his previous marriage which ended in divorce and the previous wife still fears for her life. The previous wife has called both Sheriff’sDepartments to provide information about her life experiences with her ex-husband now Rebekah’s estranged husband.

We have contacted Montana Department of Crime Investigations, Montana Dept of Justice, and FBI, with no success for intervention. We have attempted to find national help to make Rebekah’s disappearance go national with no luck.

Per a phone call to the MT Highway Patrol for a copy of their report, they claim they never made a report from their call to the scene.
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.
 
And this is what it looked like in July'21
Google Maps

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.
 
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.
 
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