Search for missing Mt. Shasta woman ends in tragedy

DUNSMUIR, Calif. — Authorities say the search for a missing Mount Shasta woman that began Sunday evening, April 26 ended tragically when the victim’s body was discovered in the Sacramento River the next day. Her body was located about a mile and a half downstream from where she had last been seen.

According to sheriff’s officials the victim had been socializing with friends and using a hot tub when she disappeared from a private residence on the 600 block of First St. in Dunsmuir.

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Siskiyou County sheriff’s deputies were alerted to the woman’s disappearance shortly before 11 p.m., after receiving reports of a missing person, sheriff’s officials have since reported.

“The resident of the home reported that he and two female adults were at his home, intermittently using an outside hot tub and socializing on the deck and interior of the residence,” explained officials.

“At some point one of the adults noticed their companion missing and reportedly found evidence she may have fallen into the nearby Sacramento River,” officials continued.

When deputies arrived they learned the man and his female companion, neither of whom have been publicly identified, had already searched the home and deck area where the missing woman had last been seen using the home’s hot tub but could not locate their missing friend.

While searching for the victim, who has since been identified as Erin Rachel Wagner, 40, of Mount Shasta, deputies noted that the deck of the home and area where the victim was last seen is adjacent to the Sacramento River.

Deputies searched the area near the river and surrounding area but did not locate Wagner that evening.

Deputies took a missing person’s report, and continued searching the area south of the location along the banks of the river.

Based on the circumstances, SCSO’s Dive and Search and Rescue teams, along with California Highway Patrol’s Air Operations Unit, mobilized early Monday morning and conducted a thorough and extensive ground and air search of the Sacramento River area downstream from the residence.

At around 8:30 a.m. Monday morning, while searching the area from above in CHP’s H-16, the pilot and observer/paramedic spotted what appeared to be the body of a woman floating in the river downstream from the home where she was last seen.

SCSO’s SAR and Dive team members responded to the location in the area of Crag View Dr. and ultimately recovered the victim’s lifeless body from the river.

After recovering the body from the water, officials confirmed she was the woman reported as missing.

Wagner’s family has been notified and a postmortem exam to help investigators determine Wagner’s cause and manner of death has been scheduled for later this week.

With the coroner’s assistance, SCSO is continuing to investigate the cause of Wagner’s death.

“Although there is no evidence to suggest Ms. Wagner’s tragic death was other than an accident, routinely, a death investigation is conducted in the aftermath of such incidents to ensure all information, facts, evidence, and findings in the case are thoroughly examined by SCSO investigators before such final cause and manner of death determinations are made,” SCSO Sheriff Jon Lopey later said of the investigation; which is active and ongoing.

“On behalf of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, I would like to offer our thoughts and prayers to Ms. Wagner, her family, friends, and associates, in the aftermath of her tragic death,” Lopey continued.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the SCSO’s Dive and SAR team members, field deputies, communications’ dispatchers, SCSO leaders, and the CHP’s H-16 crew, for taking part in the difficult search operation to find Ms. Wagner,” said Lopey.

Anyone with information about this investigation is encouraged to contact SCSO’s 24-hour Dispatch Center at (530) 841-2900.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 48, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 29 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 16 grandchildren.