Searches Ongoing For Missing Woman, Renee Arcand

Searches are ongoing for 36-year-old Renee Arcand who went missing from Intake Fishing Access Site at the Intake Diversion Dam, 15 miles north of Glendive, MT, along the Yellowstone River. Arcand is a Wisconsin native who was traveling from her home state to Oregon, with plans to camp in Montana for five days. She was last seen the night of Monday, June 26 and was reported missing the morning of Friday, June 30 by her companion. She has been officially missing since June 27.

Arcand is 5'5" tall and weighs 150 lbs., with brown hair and hazel eyes. She has tattoos of a heart and vines on her leg, script reading 'this too shall pass' on her wrist, and a large Gemini twins tattoo.

Arcand's companion spent the 27th looking for her near the campsite. On Thursday, June 29 he drove her vehicle to Buffalo Gap where they had met thinking that maybe she had gotten a ride back; along the way he stopped with her two dogs to let them out for a pit stop, and both dogs took off. A gray chihuahua mix named Bean is still missing, and the other dog was found 15 miles east of Glendive on July 1 and is now with Arcand's family.

Searches began as soon as she was reported missing by both the Dawson County Sheriff's Department and the Richland County Sheriff's Department.

"We are very grateful for the Richland County Sheriff's Department," said Dawson County Sheriff Ross Canen. "They jumped right in with their search efforts."

Land searches have been conducted in Dawson County, utilizing two search and rescue dogs, and one cadaver dog was taken out on a search and rescue boat.

There have been daily searches in Richland County, which is down river from Intake Fishing Access Site, including helicopter coverage and drone searches. On June 8 and 9 two boats conducted searches in Richland County. Officials have notified downstream communities and have searched the Yellowstone River from Intake Fishing Access Site to the Confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, a distance of approximately 70 miles. Badlands Search and Rescue, Watford City, ND, has also recently joined the efforts to locate the missing woman. However, the river is very high and the water is muddy, making water efforts difficult.

"We are still searching, but we're at Mother Nature's mercy," commented Sheriff Canen. "We have been doing a lot of behind the scenes work to retrace her last three days and we have a good handle on the timeline."

Canen added that although they do not have any eyewitnesses that saw Arcand go into the water, it is their best guess that is what happened.

If the public has any information, they are encouraged to call the Dawson County Sheriff's Department at 406-377-5291.