Oregon officials have arrested a man they say murdered his wife weeks after she filed for divorce.
Michel Fournier, 71, of Brightwood, was charged in connection with the death of his wife, Susan Lane-Fournier, 61, who went missing on November 22 along with the couple’s two dogs. She had failed to show up at her workplace.
The couple had been together for 12 years. A resident found the woman’s body this week near East Highway 26 and East Miller Road in Clackamas County near Welches, Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Her manner of death has been ruled a homicide.
It concluded a four-day search to find Lane-Fournier. Her truck had previously been found in the area of the Mount Hood National Forest. The two dogs remain missing.
Fournier has been booked on a second-degree murder charge. He’s currently being held in the Clackamas County Jail without bail.
Officials did not disclose any other information surrounding the woman’s death but are working to determine the circumstances of what happened.
According to the Portland Tribune, the woman had expressed fear for her and her dogs in the days leading up to the disappearance.
A group called “Team Phoenix” that worked to find Lane-Fournier issued a statement on Facebook after her body was found. Lane-Fournier’s nickname was “Phoenix.”
“The mission for justice has begun,” the group wrote. “We have all been quiet, we are all processing our grief. This is not the outcome we had hoped for, but we were under no delusions that this might not be the outcome.”
A candlelit vigil is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, December 2 at Hoodland Bazaar in Welches.
“Ultimately, what we would like is for Phoenix’s light to not go out but shine brighter,” Cari Gesch, one of the woman’s friends, told the newspaper.
“We don’t want her death to mean nothing. Our community is all hurting and we all need to get together and just grieve and cry together. We want to turn this senseless tragedy into something positive. I think that’s what Phoenix would’ve wanted. Maybe it can spark some positive change.”
Anyone with information about the missing dogs is being encouraged to call the sheriff’s office.
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