Husband of missing Oregon woman arrested and charged with murder after her remains were found

Susan Lane-Fournier’s husband, Michel Fournier, is being held without bail on a second-degree murder charge

The husband of an Oregon hiker who was reported missing last week with her two dogs has been charged with second-degree murder after her body was discovered and later identified.

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) began searching for Susan Lane-Fournier on Friday, November 22nd after her employer reported that she had not come to work. The search for 61-year-old Susan, who went missing along with her two dogs, was then called off after four days, the CCSO said Nov. 25.

On Saturday, November 30, the CCSO said that Michel Fournier – who operates several branches including KOIN, The Oregonian and KGW say he is her husband – was booked into the Clackamas County Jail and is being held without bail on a second-degree murder charge after Susan’s body was discovered on Friday, November 29th.

See also: Oregon woman’s truck found after she disappeared with two dogs: ‘She’s just the kindest, most loving person’

In a news release, authorities said Susan’s remains were discovered around 8:30 a.m. local time on November 29 in the Werden area near East Highway 26 and East Miller Road. The local medical examiner’s office identified her and determined the cause of death to be homicide.

The discovery of her body came six days after her white 1992 Ford F-250 was found parked near East Salmon River Road and Green Canyon Way Trail south of Welch, prompting a multi-day search by the search and rescue team Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office EMS released team.

According to KOIN, Susan’s body was found four miles from where her truck was located, and her two dogs have not yet been found.

Michel, 71, was arrested by investigators after her body was discovered.

According to KOIN, Susan filed for divorce from her estranged husband after 12 years of marriage. KGW reported that she filed divorce proceedings in Clackamas County Circuit Court on October 31, and a petition for dissolution of marriage stated that “irreconcilable differences between the parties have resulted in the irremediable breakdown of their marriage.”

Friend James Evans told KOIN that he found Susan’s body after searching the area. “I walked along the path, maybe 20 meters. I saw a tarp. I thought it was trash,” Evans said. “I bent down to pick up the tarp and as I bent down and came up, I saw a pair of boots attached to one leg.”

“I immediately dropped the tarp, sat backwards, collected myself, turned around, went to the lodge and had the office immediately call 911,” he added. “It was pretty heartbreaking.”

While Evans said he wasn’t “super-super close” to Susan, he told himself he would “find” his friend. According to KOIN, he now plans to continue searching for Susan’s large Malinois mix dogs on Sunday, December 1st.

Related: Search for missing Oregon woman and her two dogs abandoned: Here’s what we know so far

Before calling off the initial search for Susan — a decision made “based on weather conditions and likelihood of survival” — the sheriff’s department reported that dozens of volunteers had spent “more than 800 hours searching” for the missing woman seek.

According to KGW, Susan’s friend Cari Gesch is the person who discovered her truck. She described Susan as “the kindest, most loving person” she knew.

“We’re all just worried,” said Gesch at the time, who called her friend an experienced hiker. “It’s not like her to not show up for work, not to call and no one saw or heard anything. … She’s a little eccentric, but everyone up here on this mountain is a little eccentric.”

Gesch also referred to Susan’s dogs as “her protectors,” explaining, “They were guard dogs. I mean, if anyone came near them, they would lose their minds.”