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Butte police do not suspect foul play in woman's death

Deidra Lufkins
Posted at 8:31 AM, May 10, 2022
and last updated 2022-05-10 11:02:13-04

The body of Deidra Lufkins, who had been missing for three or four days in the Highland Mountains south of Butte, was found by search and rescue personnel on Sunday, May 8, 2022.

The body of Lufkins was found by search dogs about three miles from the Highlands Campground Sunday afternoon. She had been missing since either Thursday or Friday when she became separated from her husband and another man.

A passerby found the two men early Saturday morning huddled in their stuck car and contacted 15-90 Search & Rescue.

“The initial investigation it does appear she died of hypothermia. There weren’t any signs of foul play involved,” said Butte Sheriff Ed Lester.

“Two individuals were in pretty rough shape, cold and wet, and confused, very confused, and undetermined whether they’d been out there three or five days,” said 15-90 Search & Rescue Commander Brad Belke.

The men had left the woman by a small campfire as they tried to find help. Police say in addition to the effects of the cold, the men may have been drinking and using drugs and were unable to remember where the woman was left.

Snowstorms blew into the area making the search even more difficult. Search dogs from Elkhorn Search & Rescue and True North were brought in Sunday and found the body.

“In that weather conditions with the snow and the wet, I have to assume she didn’t make it through the first night probably,” said Belke.

“You can get hypothermic relatively quickly and people don’t realize how fast they can become disoriented, and you have a situation like this, it’s an extremely unfortunate situation,” said Lester.

Lufkin’s remains have been taken to the Montana Crime Lab in Missoula for autopsy.


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