Remains belonging to ND woman missing since 2011 found in Idaho

Remains and other items belonging to a North Dakota woman who has been missing since 2011 were found in Idaho last week, and her death has been ruled an accident. The discovery ends the years-long mystery as to what happened to 82-year-old Florence Dumontet.

Idaho officials told the Grand Forks County Sheriff's Department in North Dakota that a prosthetic knee with a serial number matching one belonging to Dumontet had been discovered, according to the Grand Forks Herald.

In October 2011, Dumontet and her cream-colored poodle named Peaches were on their way from North Dakota to Washington state to visit family – a trip she had made many times before, Grand Forks County officials note. But Dumontet never made it to her destination.

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The Shoshone County Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook that a hiker found a bone in the National Forest outside Mullan, Idaho, last week. Several law enforcement agencies assisted in aerial surveillance of the area, locating a vehicle near Lookout Pass, along Interstate 90, near the border of Idaho and Montana.

Officials said in the post they believe the vehicle was involved in an accident back in 2011, noting they are still investigating but it appears her vehicle went off the side of the road and tumbled some 500 yards down the side of the mountain, KPAX says.

Investigators found other remains – including her skull – near the vehicle, officials said at a news conference Monday.

Dumontet's family says she was notorious for not wearing her seatbelt, officials added.

Law enforcement agencies had searched extensively along Interstate 90 after she was reported missing, but they didn't have any success.