The husband of a 61-year-old Oregon woman who police believe went missing just more than a week ago while hiking in the Mount Hood National Forest has been arrested, authorities said Friday.
Michel Fournier has been charged with second-degree murder and bail has not been set, according to Clackamas County Jail records.
The 71-year-old was arrested Friday — on the same day the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office announced a person was found dead near East Highway 26 and East Miller Road in Clackamas County.
Investigators are still working to identify the body and determine the cause and manner of death.
Fournier’s wife, Susan Lane-Fournier, was reported missing on Nov. 22 after failing to show up for work.
Her disappearance occurred just weeks after Lane-Fournier initiated divorce proceedings against her husband of 12 years, local television station KGW reported.
A petition for dissolution of marriage filed Oct. 31 in Clackamas County Circuit Court states, “irreconcilable differences between the parties have caused an irremediable breakdown of their marriage.”
Police believe Lane-Fournier, who also goes by the name “Phoenix,” went hiking with her two large Malinois-mix dogs in the Green Canyon Way Trail area south of Welches, one of the many communities that make up the Villages at Mount Hood.
On Nov. 23, her white 1992 Ford F-250 pickup truck was spotted parked along E. Salmon River Road near the Green Canyon Way Trail — a discovery that prompted the sheriff’s office to mobilize teams of volunteers to assist in an effort to locate her.
A massive search-and-rescue operation — which also involved drone teams and air-scent and trailing K9 units — was suspended Tuesday after more than “800 search hours” yielded no results.
“Based on weather conditions and the likelihood of survivability, the decision was made to suspend operations after all four volunteer search teams returned from the field,” officials said.
