33-year-old Israeli-American nurse’s body recovered more than two weeks after she went missing at a park in Montana.
An Israeli-American woman living in Colorado was found dead this week in Montana, more than two weeks after she went missing.
On February 21st, 33-year-old Danit Ehrlich disappeared after traveling to a dog park in Missoula, Montana, near the University of Montana.
Local authorities and a Jewish search and rescue group contracted by the Ehrlich family scoured the banks of the Clark Fork River, amid fears Danit had drowned while hiking in the area.
Those fears were confirmed this week, when Ehrlich’s remains were discovered in the Clark Fork River.
On Sunday afternoon, a passerby spotted a body in the river and notified local authorities.
After the body was recovered by first responders, a coroner’s examination confirmed that the remains belonged to Ehrlich.
Ehrlich had taking her dog, Bamba, out hiking by the river, with her father, Simon Ehrlich, speculating that his daughter drowned while trying to rescue Bamba from the icy river.
“She was a lovely, lovely girl. She really, she touched people,” Simon told CBS News.
“Her dog was her life. Her dog was her life,” said Simon. “They traveled together, they hiked together.”
“We have her last steps in the snow with the steps of the dog.”
“We as parents, we are not surprised that she just jumped in. Don’t even think twice. That’s my dog. That’s my baby.”
Bamba has not been located.
Born in Miami, Ehrlich had relocated to Colorado and worked as a nurse in Lutheran Hospital near Denver.
Ehrlich had recently left Lutheran Hospital, working as a traveling nurse, with plans to relocate to Tacoma, Washington for a new job.
When she failed to show up in Tacoma, however, her family began to worry.
“We started making phone calls to her, and she didn’t answer,” Simon said. “Something is wrong.”
In a statement shared with CBS Colorado, Ehrlich’s boyfriend called her a “caring woman,” and said he was “broken to know the truth.”
“I didn’t realize how much I was hanging on to the small sliver of hope I had about her possibly being alive. It brings closure and it brings a sense of finality.”