29-year-old woman found dead month after vanishing on solo trip, Oregon cops say
A 29-year-old woman was found dead in Oregon nearly a month after she vanished during a cross-country solo trip, deputies said.
Kaylee Birt's remains were discovered by volunteer search teams May 3, the Harney County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.
The sheriff's office did not say where her remains were found, and they have not responded to McClatchy News' request for more information as of Monday, May 5.
Birt was last seen April 4 leaving The Fields Station in her gold 2008 Chevy Malibu, McClatchy News reported from authorities.
The Fields Station is a burger joint, store, motel and gas station in Fields, which is a remote and unincorporated community in southeastern Oregon.
She was headed to Iowa, deputies said, but her vehicle was discovered abandoned April 6 in a remote part of Harney County in Oregon.
Deputies said they determined a location where her cell phone last pinged, and they searched the area but couldn't find her.
Search teams looked for her for seven days by 'air, ground, UTV, drone, foot and horseback,' deputies said. However, authority-led search efforts ended April 10.
Her friends and family are grieving her death and sharing the experiences they had with her.
'I met Kaylee in Peru. She could always light up a room. You knew as long as Kaylee was there you would never feel alone. She was truly one of a kind and her laugh was too,' her friend Tara Timmerman wrote on Facebook.
'Was neighbors in essex for years! All the sleepovers, sporting events, Halloween parties at her house and countless fun nights in Maryville after we graduated high school! Kaylee was always the life of any party and such a great friend,' Koreen Johnson said in a post.
'Kaylee was my best friend our freshman year of college. She lived across the hall from me. We instantly hit it off. Throughout the years, we stayed in touch off and on. She had the BEST personality. She was hilarious and always down for a good time,' Leah Phillips wrote.
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