Body of missing 21-year-old found in Clark Fork River

The body of 21-year-old missing person Dustin Goebel was discovered Tuesday Feb. 5 on the Clark Fork River approximately five miles west of Superior.

“It was reported to us and we (Mineral County Sheriff’s Office) went out and investigated the possibility that it was a body,” Mineral County Sheriff Ernie Ornelas said. “We had Search and Rescue and Fish Wildlife and Parks, search and rescue brought their boat out and there was a raft put out by Fish Wildlife and Parks who assisted us in recovering that body.”

The body was transported the same day to the Medical Examiner’s Office at the state crime lab in Missoula.

“At the time we didn’t know whether the body was a male or a female because of the way that we had to place the body from the water,” Sheriff Ornelas said. “We were able to move the body into what we refer to as an envelope before putting it into a body bag.”

On Thursday the body was examined by the state medical examiner’s office, which will determine the cause and time of death. The examiner also was able to positively identify the body.

“Undersheriff Mike Boone and I believe the county attorney notified the next of kin,” Sheriff Ornelas said. “It was identified positively as Dustin Goebel.”

Investigation into the cause and manner of death is still being conducted by the medical examiner’s office.

“We are just waiting right now,” Sheriff Ornelas said.

Goebel was last seen in the Superior area on Nov. 24 and was placed on a national missing persons database by the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office.