I do not believe that RB and her dog accidentally drowned in the Clark Ford River that July afternoon. There are too many factors that point to the involvement of her abusive, estranged husband DB in her disappearance. In this post, I examine if DB’s involvement is feasible and if so attempt to come up with possible scenarios that fit with the facts and timeline as we know it. I exclusively refer to the abductor as DB, although it is certainly possible that he could have arranged for someone else to do his dirty work. I apologize to
@laurawlms in advance if I have made mistakes in the narrative or have been too graphic in its depiction. I hope she will make corrections and additions and relate any other scenarios she or the family have entertained. Hopefully this info will help with a future investigation by private investigators or be useful in any future civil litigations. Of course, this is pure speculation and MOO.
If RB was abducted, we know that it had to be at the Alberton Rest Area Eastbound on I-90. We know she was there, because her phone pinged there and it contained video of her training her dog there that afternoon by the Clark Fork River by the Alberton Rocks Climbing Area. Also, her car was found in the rest area parking lot after her disappearance. So how did DB know she would be there? The most likely explanation is that the caretaker who met RB at the Town Pump in Superior tipped DB off to RB’s plan to stop along the way home to exercise her dog. RB may have mentioned her afternoon plans to the caretaker during their small talk about her trip to Superior. To me, the caretaker’s involvement explains their willingness to provide an alibi for DB.
RB was last seen at 2:15 PM at the Town Pump in Superior. According to Google Maps it is a 23 min drive from the Town Pump to the Alberton Rest Area on I-90. If she left the Town Pump soon after 2:15 PM, she would have arrived at her destination sometime around 2:45 PM. Her vehicle was found in the upper parking lot of the rest area and it looks as if she walked the long way to the beach on the East side of the climbing rock. That is where her personal belongings were found and apparently where the dog training video was shot. It is not known how long RB planned to stay at the rocks. She was on her way home to Missoula and it might be surmised that she was only planning to stay for 60 to 90 min. She was there until at least 3:15 PM when her cell phone pinged for the last time.
If DB encountered RB at the Alberton Rocks area, exactly where and when did this occur and what happened next? In the first scenario, DB tracks down RB at the beach on the river bank where he overpowers RB and her dog and drowns them in the river. This is an appealing scenario for two reasons. The first is that previously DB threatened to drown RB and her dog. And second, this would eliminate the need to stage her belongings at the beach, setting the scene that led LE to conclude RB and her dog disappeared as the result of an accidental drowning. There are several things that I think make this scenario highly unlikely. Six days after RB’s disappearance her dog was found deceased 10 miles downstream of the Alberton Rocks. This was much farther than the searchers anticipated. The Clark Fork has many bends and turns and with the likely presence of underwater tree limbs and debris it would be almost impossible for a large dog to travel that distance. A check of the USGS river gauge at St. Regis, Montana for July 10th shows that the river had returned to its normal 6 ft depth after the spring thaw and runoff and should have been flowing normally. Additionally, nearly 5 months later RB’s body has yet to be found after extensive searches of the river. Perhaps a more compelling reason to discount this scenario is that the Alberton Rocks is a very popular recreation area and it seems implausible that no one saw RB or her dog enter the river. Now it is possible the weather that day was stormy and there were few people at the beach. A potential wrinkle to this scenario would have DB encounter RB and her dog at the beach and then force them up the hill and into his vehicle.
The second scenario has DB waiting in the parking lot until RB and her dog return to her car. He then abducts them and forces them into his vehicle. He either attacks one or both of them there or transports them elsewhere. In either case he would have to return to the beach at some point to stage her belongs as she would have brought them with her back to her car. I think it is unlikely that he left RB and her dog in his vehicle in the parking lot to stage the items as it is too exposed to the public. I have proposed an alternative scenario up thread which I will briefly re-outline here. If he abducted RB and her dog from the rest area, he likely left and headed west toward Superior. I suspect he is familiar with the area and left I-90 at Exit 66, Fish Creek Rd. A right on Fish Creek Rd would lead him to Old Highway 10 W, a lightly traveled road. A left onto Old Highway 10 W leads to the Triple Bridges, the perfect spot to dump a dead/murdered dog into the Clark Fork River from a car. The distance from the Triple Bridges to the Rock Creek beach where the dog was found seems about the right distance for the dog to travel downstream. At that point I think DB makes a plan. He decides to hide RB's body and then return to the Albertson rocks to stage her belongings on the beach. From Old Highway 10 W, he could have turned right on Perkins Creek Rd and then right again on Road No. 459. Road No. 459 is a small, rural road that circles back eastward to I-90 (via Mead Ln) not far from the Alberton Rocks. It is remote, and in my opinion, would be the perfect place to hide a body. Specifically, there several turnoffs leading up forested ravines that would provide cover for anyone doing something nefarious. Of course, there are any number of other places he could have dumped the dog and hidden RB and other routes he could have used to return to the beach. He would have had enough time to carry this out as the abduction likely occurred about 4 PM and the 911 call reporting her clothes at the beach was reportedly placed at 5:30 PM. It is also possible that he kept RB for some time and hid her on his property in Superior (which has never been searched) or carried her off to distant parts unknown.
This a particularly heartbreaking case. I hope RB is united with her family soon and justice is served if warranted. Again all of this is MOO.
