Found Deceased MT - Rebekah Barsotti and Dog Cerberus Last Seen at Town Pump Gas Station #2



Fortunately, diatoms have been studied and catalogued from 52 sites in Montana, including the Clark Fork River near Missoula, home of Cymbella mexicana var. kamtschatica.
This is interesting info. I wonder if pathologists checked for diatoms. I wonder if not, if they should have.
 
It should be noted that the sheriff and some deputies also serve as coroners in Mineral County.

So in Mineral County, it is perfectly fine to have a sheriff/PI/coroner, apparently. My concern is about the potential for crossover of information from confidential police investigations to unknown clients of a PI firm by someone also serving as coroner. Unless these roles are strictly contained, integrity in police investigations and autopsy reports is at risk. The potential exists for conflict of interest, especially in police departments where wages are below standard for the profession. That is my opinion, not a legal opinion.
 
This is interesting info. I wonder if pathologists checked for diatoms. I wonder if not, if they should have.
They have experts in this field right there in Montana. Diatoms in Montana were catalogued more than a decade ago. Monitoring is ongoing. If they didn't use the resources at hand, why didn't they? They're busy, but surely a phone call or email is not onerous. They have a duty of responsibility to provide fulsome answers to families who have lost a loved one under suspicious circumstances.
 

Our studies also found that the pennate diatoms are easier to penetrate through the alveoli-capillary barrier, travel in the blood stream and finally deposit in the distant tissues including liver and kidney. These findings provided evidences to support the process of diatoms penetrating the alveoli-capillary barrier.

Montana does have continuous monitoring of river diatoms.


The Clark Fork River contains pennate diatoms, for example:


The Cymbella genus is a pennate diatom that forms colonies in bodies of water.


Of course it's too late to re-examine lung tissue, the liver and kidneys, now that Rebekah's remains have been cremated.
 

Our studies also found that the pennate diatoms are easier to penetrate through the alveoli-capillary barrier, travel in the blood stream and finally deposit in the distant tissues including liver and kidney. These findings provided evidences to support the process of diatoms penetrating the alveoli-capillary barrier.

Montana does have continuous monitoring of river diatoms.


The Clark Fork River contains pennate diatoms, for example:


The Cymbella genus is a pennate diatom that forms colonies in bodies of water.


Of course it's too late to re-examine lung tissue, the liver and kidneys, now that Rebekah's remains have been cremated.
And it’s my understanding they can’t be sued either??
 
And it’s my understanding they can’t be sued either??



Pathologists have been sued for malpractice. Pathologists who worked for the medical examiner have sued the ME's office in my country. Lawsuits are flying back and forth here. There have been some big ones. A lawyer who specializes in this field would be better qualified than me to provide an opinion.
 
@laurawlms , @Gina20 , still so sorry that Rebekah's family and friends have to endure this!

View attachment 358261
image from bloomsbythebox.com

jmho ymmv lrr
I agree. It's ongoing trauma for Rebekah's family and friends, and to what end? They don't deserve this cruelty. There is no respect and dignity for them as they grieve their loss, IMO.
 
It should be noted that the sheriff and some deputies also serve as coroners in Mineral County.

So in Mineral County, it is perfectly fine to have a sheriff/PI/coroner, apparently. My concern is about the potential for crossover of information from confidential police investigations to unknown clients of a PI firm by someone also serving as coroner. Unless these roles are strictly contained, integrity in police investigations and autopsy reports is at risk. The potential exists for conflict of interest, especially in police departments where wages are below standard for the profession. That is my opinion, not a legal opinion.
New County Attorney coming....

 
Mineral County Sheriff's Office has begun to train its deputies in water rescues.

 
Perhaps someone familiar with the intricacies of Montana law can answer these questions:

1. I understand that it is perfect legal for a sheriff in Montana to run a private investigation firm on the side. What conflict of interest rules exist to prevent a sheriff/PI from providing confidential information from police investigations, including criminal investigations, to the PI firm's clients? Is this specifically addressed under state law and personnel regulations? Does each county do their own thing?

2. Private investigators can surveil a person's home with high-tech equipment, use GPS trackers on vehicles and otherwise monitor computers and phones. What happens if a sheriff/PI uses these techniques on a person who later shows up dead under suspicious circumstances? Would it be legal under Montana law for a sheriff/PI to serve a client who hired them to do these things, while at the same time investigating or leading an investigation of the same suspicious death in their official police role? Would they be required by law to disclose and recuse themselves and their department from the investigation, handing all materials and investigation notes etc. over to a state authority which would step in to conduct a new, independent investigation?


3. What specific disclosure rules, if any, exist if a sheriff/PI is in this legally allowed but ethically questionable position? Would said person be required by law to disclose that he had been hired privately to track the deceased person whose death he was also investigating when wearing his sheriff hat?

Times have changed, and I question whether the laws have kept up. Thank you to anyone with legal knowledge for clarification. It's the legal knowledge of the inner workings of this system that I'm looking for.
I still think your question about her really being at the town pump needs to be answered. Or where it all really started. I wonder if she ever made it to Alberton rock.
 
There is video of her and the dog there from that day playing in the river.
Not only that, but other data on the cellphone proves that it traveled from Missoula to the gas station, and then to the river rest stop. Also, she was wearing a fitness tracker and that information has already been confirmed as seen by her family, and it showed her being there and the route that she walked, from the parking lot to the riverbank. I think her vehicle has data that may also corroborate its location and routes driven that day. A fitness tracker cannot be removed without it showing a break in the data and we know the (downloaded onto the phone) data was shown to the mother. The fitness tracker and phone data both show consistent corroboration of locations. All of this evidence was out of reach for anyone to alter, plant, or manipulate. You cannot change cellphone "pings" by having possession of the phone, these records of location data are not accessible for manipulation.
 
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Perhaps someone with insurance expertise can tell me how an insurance policy would be paid out in Montana for accidental death.

Would the clock start counting down 90 days from the date of discovery of a body by police, or would it be 90 days from the date of release of the autopsy report? Would a non-determination of manner of death come into play?

What are the circumstances for an insurance company to intervene with a fraud investigation? Would such an investigation delay any payout, and by how long? Could a finding of fraud by an insurance company be used in a police investigation?

As we know from actuarial science, accidental death is quite rare, occurring in less than six percent of deaths, despite public perception to the contrary.

Also, in the state of Montana, how much time must elapse before a death certificate can be issued for a person who went missing, but was never found? It is my understanding that this is a matter of years, not months.

Some information is found here:


 
Perhaps someone with insurance expertise can tell me how an insurance policy would be paid out in Montana for accidental death.
I must have missed something.
Who had a (life insurance?) policy on who, that is relevant to this case?

Nobody can answer any of these questions without a copy of the exact policy/contract you are referring to. Pages of fine print with clauses, exclusions, etc, dictate what the process will be for a payout.
 
I understood that Rebekah went to pick up a grocery bag of her belongings from her estranged husband's care provider at the Town Pump on the day she supposedly went missing. It is my understanding that the bag is no longer a bag, but a box. Point of clarification: if the alleged still image shows a box rather than a grocery bag, and the quality of the image is so in poor that no one can recognize Rebekah, I believe this could be two women who are not Rebekah and the care provider, exchanging a box that is clearly not a grocery bag. Any time stamp discrepancies, if there is one, could be because two people who were not Rebekah and the caregiver exchanged a box, which was not a bag. In other words, it is likely completely irrelevant to this case.
 
I listened to a very interesting and informative video today.

I'm alerting on my post to see if Mods will allow it to be linked here.
 
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