She Fled from a Car Ride with Her Boyfriend 9 Years Ago and Ran into the Woods — and Her Body Was Just Found

The last time anyone saw Shannah Boiteau on June 22, 2016, she was running away from a vehicle driven by her boyfriend on a desolate stretch of county road outside of St. Cloud, Minn. 

Leaving her purse, phone and shoes behind, Boiteau, 23, of Chippewa Falls, Wisc., raced barefoot into the densely wooded area next to Highway I-94, County Road 74, and was never seen again.

Now, nearly nine years later, authorities say her skeletal remains have been found on a property in Augusta, Minn., near where she vanished.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, May 1, her father, Cletus Boiteau, wrote, “We would like to thank everyone who has reached out with their thoughts and prayer.

“From the bottom of our hearts we can never thank you enough. This has and is the hardest thing we have ever been through in our lives. Shannah was our first born and stole our hearts from the moment she arrived. Our hearts are broken and will never be whole again.” 

After Boiteau vanished on June 22, 2016, police issued a release asking for the public’s help in locating the young mother.

She and her boyfriend had gotten into an argument when she ran out of the car, her family said, according to NBC News’ Dateline: Missing in America article series in August 2016.  

At the time, authorities said they did not believe Boiteau knew anyone in the St. Cloud area.

Authorities kept searching for her, but eventually the case went cold.

Now, at least some of the mystery surrounding her death is over. In an update on Tuesday, April 29, St. Cloud Police reported that on Saturday, April 26, officers located the remains, which were identified on April 29.

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Recent drought conditions exposed the once-flooded area where her remains were located, and the property owner found her remains, Cletus wrote in his post.

“Trust us when we say that we have all the same questions that everyone else does. We will probably never know all the answers to those questions,” he wrote.

The investigation remains active.