Search for Emily Rea - Flathead County, MT, Hungry Horse, MT (2026)

09/09/2025

Just to make sure this ask does not get missed... I am requesting a unique form of help from you.... Emily’s wedding gift to Michaela. A way to help redeem some of Michaela's missed fun and unstressed togetherness by her devoted time and efforts. If any of you have or have access to a second home, camp, timeshare etc., which you would be willing to make available to Michaela and Dave, would you? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could have one destination vacation a month for the next year? It doesn’t matter what state; arrangements can be made.

If you’d like to participate in thanking them, here’s a simple-to-use easy to give link to a Google form & instructions: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeb7th1ej5evhXvYJwczRvxub8fxHO-z3EG_x3sLqObWOghkg/viewform?usp=header

If you don’t have a vaca spot to offer and would like to help send them on their way, of course you’re not confined to Emily’s Gift.

On that form are non-vacation spot options with a link as well
and a way to reach Michaela directly via email. This is what extended community is all about!

09/09/2025

I know, this is absurdly delayed in sending; thank you for your continuing to check in. I apologize. Please know I’m covering as many bases as I can, obviously as fast as a turtle in high heels.
TOP Priority is Michaela! She and Dave are finally getting married September 27, THIS 9/27/25.

I can honestly tell you she has been absolutely, positively, unequivocally indispensable! Following is a list, but it isn’t just a list. Please read slowly and try to digest the hours each task
took/takes – please!!!

Michaela set up communication command center extraordinaire by herself without being asked. Not until the needs and escalation of information increased, did she enlist the help of family and friends with special skill sets that could help her. None of us had any clue the details that would need to be take care of, i.e., but not limited to:
- setting up a dedicated Emily email [email protected], “womaning” that
email by dialoguing with those who use it and forwarding them on to me,
- creating and updating spreadsheets for tracking dates and times, contacts (political entities, special services such as search teams and devices, volunteers etc.), tips and references for those such as legal assistance, podcasters, crime solvers, mainstream media, and not so mainstream entities etc.
- She, by the permission and significant funding of her boss, designed and set up the billboard and rotating gas station adds.
- She had great brainstorming ideas for fundraisers (including researching cross country legalities),
- designing and maintaining Emily’s web site (www.EyesForEmily.com ), Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561441812867 and Instagram pages
(https://www.instagram.com/eyesforemily/ ), the petition site (successful and closed) and
Go Fund Me (https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-search-for-emily-rea%20%20%20%EF%BB%BF) pages.
- She set me up and ever so patiently schooled me in the use of the Google suite and other useful helps and apps I’d not yet used.
- She made and sold her own jewelry to assist in funding, she also helped fill in Emily history blanks, lent insight, commiseration for the seemingly never-ending delays and what was seen as lack of coordination and information, and well placed humor.
- She shielded me from harsh pushbacks
- She made the trip from MA to MT to assist me (with one of my brothers and sister in law) to pack up Emily’s belongings on a tight time frame.
- She has managed all of this while being the president of a dominant and respectable marketing company as it went through the acquisition/sale process, planned a wedding and most incredibly dealt personally with the second loss of a best friend. They are three peas in a pod, Tres Amigos, BFFs: Liv, Emily and Michaela. BFF… the last F = FOREVER.Michaela, they will indeed be in your heart, mind and memories forever. Miracles still do happen; chapter not yet closed though the physical absence and loss of Emily is real.
- She succeeded in all of these without a single grumphh, unkind word or even an inkling of you want me to do what ? WHEN?
I say finally because Michaela and Dave have postponed not only vacations and personal plans but also their wedding to assist with the above list involving Emily’s disappearance. With a bit of encouragement and dare I say permission, she and Dave set a wedding date, 9/27/25.

Now, I am requesting a unique form of help from you. Emily’s Gift. A way to help redeem some of the missed fun and unstressed togetherness, If any of you have or have access to a second home, camp, timeshare etc., which you would be willing to make available to Michaela and Dave, would you? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could have one destination vacation a month for the next year? It doesn’t matter what state; arrangements can be made.
If you’d like to participate in thanking Michaela, here’s a simple-to-use easy to give link to a
Google form & instructions:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeb7th1ej5evhXvYJwczRvxub8fxHO-z3EG_x3sLqObWOghkg/viewform?usp=header

If you don’t have a vaca spot to offer and would like to help send them on their way, of course you’re not confined to Emily’s Gift. On that form are non-vacation spot options with a link as well
and a way to reach Michaela directly via email. This is what extended community is all about!

Now for some updates:
- We hosted an organizational rally on a gorgeous day with the willing hands and gifts of many which kicked off a petition signing drive.
- Successfully collected hand and electronically delivered over 5200 petition signatures to Austin Knudsen, MT’s Attorney General.
- Which precipitated a direct call from the head of Montana’s Department of Justice’s DCI.
- Gene Ralston (deepwater sonar) returned and scanned for a week until inclement weather, including 6” of snow on the summer solstice, sent them home to Idaho with no further finding. They will not be returning a third time.
- The services of a well screened and reputable Private Investigator have been enlisted.
- He continues to conduct interviews and research many leads. After 2+ months of sleuthing, he too believes Emily’s disappearance was not accidental. The challenge is to prove it – please continue to pray for those who have information to be forthcoming and for the truth to be found…along with Emily!
- He had a meeting with several officials familiar with the case at the Sheriff’s Office last Friday.
- Information was shared bilaterally and part of Emily’s case file was given to him.
- Emily’s computer is currently residing with the FBI – data access very difficult to obtain.
- Car and paddle board remain with the Sheriff’s office for possible further processing.
- Forensic accountants and cyber security experts have continued to conduct their
research.

Please continue to pray:
- for enough solid evidence of foul play for a federal agency to be invited in by the Sheriff’s office for assistance.
- for miracles! Please don’t weary of praying for Emily as you would your own friends and family. There are answers, we just don’t know when and where they will come.

Today’s biggest Thank You goes to Michaela (and Dave). There aren’t enough words to describe the depth of gratitude and cost.
Walking that practiced walk of faith,
Mama Rea

07/17/2025

How does one even begin to encapsulate an entire year of searching for our daughter Emily Rea and the voids that are left?

Yes, today is the one-year mark of living in a tediously fast-paced dimension into which we were tossed in an instant. Today could be a day full of empty, but it’s not, partly due to you!

This post will be a diversion from my typically picturesque and allegorical posts. A nutshell of bullets. I promise to name-drop next time!

Successes since the last post:

1) Organizational Show Up and Sign Up for Emily Rally
--So much help and numerous printing resources given for Rally flyer distribution
--Businesses that stepped up to donate set-up materials for Rally
--Wonderful donations for the gift drawing to help raise funds for a Private Investigator
--Never Stop Praying T-shirts available
--3rd generation Emily plants available
--Great music: a fiddle piece composed by friend, local guitar artist and surprise vocals.
--Sign-ups for local help such as new flyer distribution, foot search volunteers, supplies, etc.
--Numerous local media “outlets” came to help share Emily’s story and publicize request for additional help

2) Return of the deep-water sonar specialists, Gene and Sandy Ralston
--Scanned for a week+ until a summer solstice snow and following inclement weather drove them off the water and home to Idaho!

3) Petition posted and circulated to encourage the local Sheriff to invite a federal agency’s assistance in Emily’s search
--Over 5200 signatures; online and hand gathered were delivered to and received by the Attorney General of MT
--Subsequent assistance offered

4) Paddle-out, a peaceful and powerful gathering to bring awareness to the continuing search for Emily
--envisioned and organized by one of Emily’s local paddle boarding friends; gorgeous weather!

5) Engaged a Private Investigator
--As stated elsewhere, ”We appreciate not only his credentials and work experience, but also his demeanor and desire to work with us in cooperation with the Sheriff’s Office in a professional and complimentary manner. We are confident that joining together, with the ultimate goal of finding Emily, his help will ease the burdens of time and resource demands on the Sheriff’s office.”

6) Continued Flathead Valley community support and involvement demonstrated in so many tangible ways

7) An uptick in Go Fund Me Funds:
--A little over ½ of initial $60K goal has been reached
--Through our MT accountant, we have meted out funds as judiciously and with as much scrutinizing as possible to get done what needs to be done in the best way possible at the time.
--Although we will NEVER stop looking for Emily and what has happened to her, as mentioned, there will be a logical and realistic end to the request for resources and funds. This is not yet it!
--We have taken a step forward by hiring the help of a PI
--To our knowledge, outside of our privately funded PI, a formal criminal investigation has yet to even be begun.
--If so inclined, we do need additional funds to bolster the account.

(in not doing what I did as a young Girl Scout by buying my own cookies, how about considering sharing our need with someone new – spread the wealth (request) so to speak.)

In spite of a wretched circumstance, there have been and will be more blessings and great good to come from working together in our efforts to find Emily. We all grieve differently and find silver linings within that grief. I’d like to invite you to share what has been a “goodness” finding along this path.

There are two contributors to this post today. The second is Michaela Schwartz, Emily’s bestest, best friend ever from their first day of college. I can tell you she is amazingly gifted, incredible at a keyboard and innovative ideas, is funny, contemplative and has been more of a gift to me than you could ever know.

Hear from the depths of her aching soul:

____________

Grief and I are old friends. Perhaps that’s why it’s no surprise that these words hit me so deeply; or that the loss of the author (Andrea Gibson) two days before this Big Day feels like a tug on the strings of fate.

So much of the past year has been centered on a question: where are you?

One year later, my social media feeds are filled with these words, this loud answer inked in pixels.

“I am more here than I ever was before. I am more with you than I ever could have imagined. So close you look past me when wondering where I am. It’s Ok. I know that to be human is to be farsighted. But feel me now, walking the chambers of your heart, pressing my palms to the soft walls of your living.”

It’s not the answer I want. It is the answer I’m getting, and I am trying to be grateful for that. It takes work to bring my awareness to the connection I still feel with Emily. But I am doing the work.

I am getting married in about 2 months to my sweetie, Dave. Emily is supposed to be next to me. I weep for that loss; it feels deeply unfair.

“When you cry I guide your tears toward the garden of kisses I once planted on your cheek, so you know they are all perennials. Forgive me, for not being able to weep with you. One day you will understand.”

Dr. Pauline Boss is a psychologist who works primarily on what she has coined ambiguous loss - a loss that lacks clarity or resolution. I have learned that this flavor of grief is different from the grief I am familiar with.

“Ambiguous loss makes us feel incompetent. It erodes our sense of mastery and destroys our belief in the world as a fair, orderly, and manageable place. But if we learn to cope with uncertainty, we must realize that there are differing views of the world, even when that world is less challenged by ambiguity. If we are to turn the corner and cope with uncertain losses, we must first temper our hunger for mastery. This is the paradox.”

I set out to write something about Emily, but it seems instead that I want to use this space to talk about grief. Make space for it. Hold its hand. Let it walk with me today, tomorrow, on my wedding day.

Today, I will be thinking about my cheek as a perennial garden. A garden whose soil has been made richer by Emily. By the sweetness of an enduring soul-level friendship that I know I am lucky to have experienced. I’ll be thinking about how soothing it is to be snuggled up on Em’s couch, the sound of a crackling fire in the wood stove, and the sweet rhythm of Hugo snoring.

Emily is pressing her palms against the soft walls of my living.

____________

Yes, this could have been a day full of empty, but it wasn’t. This mug states the source of my strength. It’s my mug and I’m sipping from it!

Mama (bear) Rea

06/25/2025

🌊 Paddle Out for Emily – Saturday, July 12🌊

Join us as we gather in love, solidarity, and continued hope in the search for Emily Rea.

🗓 Saturday, July 12 | 🕔 5–6 PM
📍 Somers Beach State Park – 558 Somers Rd, Somers, MT
🎈 Look for balloons on the beach!

As we near one year since Emily’s disappearance, we invite you to bring a paddleboard or kayak, a life jacket, and your heart. Together we will gather, sing, pray, and connect — united in the vision of bringing Emily home.

Let’s raise awareness and lift each other up in hope. 💙

06/12/2025

Signing the petition isn’t just a symbolic gesture — it’s a way to help apply real pressure for a broader investigation into Emily’s disappearance.

Every signature helps show Montana officials and the Attorney General that this story isn’t forgotten.

Emily deserves that.

🖊 Sign the petition
🔁 Share with one person today

https://chng.it/KpW7Qmxbfw

06/10/2025

When Emily was reported missing on July 16, 2024, we hoped for quick answers.

Two days later, her board was located on the water — upside down, intact, and still carrying items not normally used during short paddles.

The configuration of the board raised questions for many who knew Emily’s habits.

Today, we’re simply asking that those questions receive thoughtful follow-up.

🖊 Sign the petition
🔁 Share her story
📣 LINK IN BIO (www.EyesForEmily.com)

06/07/2025

For nearly a year, we’ve shared only limited details about Emily’s disappearance.

That was intentional.

From the start, we were asked to hold back our limited information —to avoid alarming someone who may have been involved, and to not disrupt the search and investigation process. We followed that guidance in good faith.

In addition, we were not made aware of all the anomalies at the time, nor how the investigation was being conducted.

We were assigned a detective for her “open investigation.”

We misunderstood that resources were mainly confined to a water search.

It has now been 11 months. As the water search continues it is very apparent to her family and a vast majority of the local community, the search needs to be expanded to include all off the water possibilities including criminal intent. Emily is still missing and key questions remain unanswered.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office has told us they do not plan to pursue further investigation unless new evidence is found. Our question is how is new evidence found if it isn’t being intently sought?

Feel free to fill us in on what you have heard or viable tips.

Emily’s paddleboard was found in a puzzling configuration with items atypical to Emily’s norm found on board. Her phone and life jacket are still missing. Her car and gear were never processed as potential evidence. And few, if any formal interviews were conducted, period.

We believe there are still leads that deserve follow-up.

We are not giving up hope—we are asking for help.

If you too believe Emily’s case needs an expanded investigation please consider both signing our petition alerting local officials and the Attorney General to spur action and secondarily, help fund our own private investigator.

Please consider:
🖊️ Signing the petition (https://chng.it/4B8YLGC5NZ)
🔁 Sharing Emily’s story
🔎 Donating to our fundraiser to hire a Private Investigator (https://www.eyesforemily.com/resources)

06/07/2025

We hit our goal of 2,000 signatures by Friday - wow! We aim to reach 6,000 in the next 7-10 days. We need your help to keep up the momentum. Exponential reach! ➡💪📈❤️‍🔥

We are so grateful for your support.

Here are shareable links to the petition, website and the Go Fund Me page. Please sign, share and help spread the word so we can secure the resources we need to find Emily.

1️⃣ Petition: https://chng.it/H26hWbJ55C
2️⃣ Website: www.EyesForEmily.com
3️⃣ Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-search-for-emily-rea

Help us bring Emily home.

Search for Emily Rea - Flathead County, MT

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