Jessica Birge missing since 8/11/07 (BODY FOUND)

[MuffyBee]

Body of missing woman found in Comal County

04:50 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 18, 2007

By RUDY KOSKI
KVUE News

Authorities in Comal County have found the body of a 25-year-old woman missing since Aug. 11.

Jessica Birge's body was found in her vehicle near the Commons Street Bridge Tuesday afternoon. She was last seen at Gruene River Lodge getting into her vehicle.

Birge's truck was pulled out of the Guadelupe River down stream from where investigators began their search Tuesday.

The battered and mud covered, green SUV was spotted by a crews in a helicopter around noon Tuesday.

Authorities have been looking for Birge since her August 11 disappearance.

She was last seen driving away from a river resort near Gruene. She had spent the day with some friends on the Comal River.

The Guadelupe River was under restricted use rules at the time. It was runing high and fast because of recent heavy rains.

That high water kept search teams out of the river until Tuesday, when the Corps of Engineers reduced the flow and lowered the water level.

"You can bring it to an end. You'll still have questions -- we will have questions -- investigators will have to look at, [but]there will be no more wondering, on the parents, and I hope it is not the ending we wanted, but I hope this will help that we have actually located Jessica," said Lt. Mark Reynolds, Comal County Sheriff's Dept.

At what point where she drove into the river is not know at this time.

Travis County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy

http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/091807kvueBirge-cb.e863d0b3.html

[MuffyBee]

Thank you, tcumom.  I had been watching this one-it was close to home.  There was a lot of controversy about whether to lower the water level to be able to do the search.  Some felt it would hurt an already bad tourist season for the tubing industry. And some felt there was nothing to indicate a water search.  I think through research, it was decided to check the waters.  It must have been very hard for her family not knowing where she was.  I'm sorry it ended like this, though.

[tcumom]

It is so sad and tragic.  I hurt for her parents and family.

I have no use for the tubers. . . .it is a drunken melee on the river.

Used to be nice for families.  Not any more.  Just my opinion.  Sound like a fuddy-duddy, but I'm really not.   

[MuffyBee]

It is so sad and tragic.  I hurt for her parents and family.

I have no use for the tubers. . . .it is a drunken melee on the river.

Used to be nice for families.  Not any more.  Just my opinion.  Sound like a fuddy-duddy, but I'm really not.   

[MuffyBee]

Whoops. Hit "post" before I finished posting.     I don't think you would have to be a fuddy-duddy to not care for some of the tubers.  I have friends that have land on the river and they get people trespassing, making fires, dropping trash, etc.  and don't want to leave when asked.   It gets to be a roudy, drunken melee.  I know there have been efforts to curb some of the activities because of problems. 

[tcumom]

Whoops. Hit "post" before I finished posting.     I don't think you would have to be a fuddy-duddy to not care for some of the tubers.  I have friends that have land on the river and they get people trespassing, making fires, dropping trash, etc.  and don't want to leave when asked.   It gets to be a roudy, drunken melee.  I know there have been efforts to curb some of the activities because of problems. 

Yes, and the efforts have pretty much been for naught.  The tubing companies and the folks who charge for parking on their land are definitely against any curbing of the activities.  I don't know what the answer is.......

[MuffyBee]

New Braunfels Woman Found In SUV, Submerged In River

Sep 18, 2007 05:51 PM
http://www.kxan.com/global/story.asp?s=7093324
After a 38-day search, the body of New Braunfels resident Jessica Birge was found strapped inside her vehicle, submerged in the Guadalupe River.

Birge's Suzuki Gran Vitara was pulled out of the water near Cypress Bend Park in New Braunfels Tuesday afternoon.missing vehicle were discover Birge, 25, and her ed about two miles downstream from where she was last seen alive.
(snipped)

[bleachedblack]

Thanks for the update MuffyBee. What a sad ending for this young girl.   

[bleachedblack]

....another article about finding Jessica Birge.

++++++++++

Sept. 19, 2007
Body of nursing student found in Guadalupe River


NEW BRAUNFELS — The body of a 25-year-old nursing student who went missing last month has been found inside her car submerged in the Guadalupe River, authorities said.

Jessica Birge, of Garden Ridge, went missing Aug. 11 after a day of tubing on the Comal River with her friends. She was last seen driving alone as she departed a river lodge in Gruene.

Police in a helicopter spotted Birge's vehicle Tuesday, the first day the Guadalupe's flow had dropped low enough to allow boats and divers better access.

"We spotted what looked like a square rock in the river," said pilot Neil Crookston. "It looked like it was covered in dirt, but it looked like it had a green hue under the dirt. We marked it as an area of interest."

Officials said Birge was not wearing a seatbelt and her hair was caught in the passenger-side door, indicating she may have tried to escape. The force of the water likely trapped her inside, officials said.

The Comal County Sheriff's Office said the death appears to be an accident, but foul play has not been ruled out. An autopsy was ordered.

"It raises as many questions as it answers," Lt. Mark Reynolds said. "We are probably always going to wonder how, why and where she got into the water."

Since her disappearance, detectives pursued sightings around the state, retraced her possible routes and scoured the area by helicopter. A thorough search of the river had not been possible because the water flow was too swift and high.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed to mostly close the floodgates at Canyon Dam on Monday to reduce the river flow for the search effort.

Even with the lower river level, Birge's Suzuki Grand Vitara was eight feet below the water's surface.

Birge was a nursing student at the University of Texas at San Antonio

http://www.chron.com/dip/story.mpl/metropolitan/5147356.html

[obi]

Missing woman's body found in river

By David Saleh Rauf
The Herald-Zeitung
Published September 19, 2007

For almost five weeks, Comal County investigators tracked dozens of leads and turned up nothing that could point them to Jessica Birge, who was last seen at the Gruene Outpost River Lodge Aug. 11.

The search for the missing University of Texas at San Antonio nursing student came to an end Tuesday afternoon when investigators found Birge’s body trapped in her own vehicle. The green Suzuki Grand Vitara had been submerged 8-feet beneath the surface of the Guadalupe River, two miles downstream from where she was last seen, until the water level was lowered this week for the first time since early August.

Birge had spent the day tubing on the Comal River with friends from junior high on Aug. 11 and was reported missing four days later.

On Tuesday, Comal County investigators, along with San Marcos rescue divers and a state and federal urban search team, equipped with sonar and metal detecting equipment, combed a stretch of the Guadalupe River about a mile and a half. It was first opportunity that investigators have had to search the swollen river, which has been flowing at nearly 5,000 cubic feet per second for more than a month because of water being released from Canyon Lake.

Prior to a tentative search conducted last weekend by San Marcos rescue divers, in which “areas of interest” along the Guadalupe were identified, investigators had said that they did not have any evidence to point them to search the river.

At about 1:30 p.m., Birge’s Suzuki SUV was pulled out of the river near Cypress Bend Park after it was spotted in the water by a Silver State Helicopter crew and two New Braunfels Police Officers conducting an aerial search, said Lt. Mark Reynolds of the Comal County Sheriff’s Office, which headed the investigation into Birge’s disappearance.

Detectives confirmed that the SUV belonged to Birge and that she was inside the vehicle, unrestrained. Detectives said they found signs that she was struggling to get out of the passenger side of the vehicle when she died. Detectives said they do not know how or where Birge’s vehicle entered the river.

“I don’t know that we’ll ever know that answer,” said Lt. Mark Reynolds.

Justice of the Peace 3 Diana Guerrero pronounced Birge dead around 1:45 p.m. and ordered an autopsy to be conducted by the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office. Birge’s cause of death was unknown, Reynolds said Tuesday.

Comal County investigators, San Marcos rescue divers and members of Texas Task Force 1 started searching the river around 10 a.m. Prior to Birge’s body being discovered, Reynolds said search efforts along the river, which were concentrated from the Gruene Outpost River Lodge to the Common Street Bridge, would continue until crews found something or could rule out the possibility that Birge had driven into the river.

“We’re bringing all the resources we can,” Reynolds said.

It was the helicopter crew searching outside the sheriff’s department’s “grid” that located a “shiny object” in the water that turned out to be the Birge’s SUV.

Tuesday’s recovery of Birge’s body brought an end to a 39-day saga that garnered national media attention.

In that time, detectives interviewed more than a dozen people and followed up on scattered sightings across the state. They probed her bank account and cell phone records, which showed no signs of activity since Birge went missing. They searched on land, retracing possible routes that the 25-year-old could have taken to her home in Garden Ridge, about 11 miles from downtown New Braunfels. And they searched in air, conducting multi-hour helicopter missions over the county.

After weeks of scouring the county without a break, detectives admitted that leads were running out, and, with that, so were the hopes of Birge’s family members who remained desperate for answers that could resolve questions about what happened to the once-aspiring red-headed actress with an electric smile.

“I keep hope,” Birge’s mother, Cindy Waecther told the Herald-Zeitung last week. “That's all I can do is keep hope and if she's not here with us then all I can hope is she's gone to a better place,” Waecther said

Waechter could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Within hours of the news that Birge’s body was found, the Myspace.com page dedicated to locating her, lit up with messages of support for her family.

“Our prayers are with Jess, her family, friends and loved ones,” one message said. “Heaven just received a beautiful angel!”

“Just know that we will never forget you, and you made such a wonderful impact on so many people,” another message read. “May God hold you in His great big arms. I love you”

Preliminary autopsy results that investigators hope will determine Birge’s cause of death, and could provide answers to other pressing questions, are expected later this week.

TIMELINE

• Aug. 11: Jessica Birge spends day tubing on Comal River; Last seen at Gruene River Lodge getting into vehicle around 10 p.m.

• Aug. 15: Family files missing person’s report with Comal County Sheriff’s Office. Extensive search begins, story draws attention on two national television programs.

• Sept. 7: Investigators say they are running out of leads.

• Sept. 8-9: San Marcos Rescue Divers search Guadalupe River with sonar and detect 2 “areas of interest.”

• Sept. 18: Flow of Guadalupe is decreased; authorities discover Birge’s body in her car.

http://herald-zeitung.com/story.las...b349f37ec334435

[MuffyBee]

Hello obi and welcome to Scared Monkeys   Thank you for the update.

[obi]

Hello obi and welcome to Scared Monkeys   Thank you for the update.

Thankyou, muffybee!

Bear with me.  Still getting used to posting here.

[MuffyBee]

Hello obi and welcome to Scared Monkeys   Thank you for the update.

Thankyou, muffybee!

Bear with me.  Still getting used to posting here.

You are doin' just fine, Obi.  Glad to have you aboard.

[San]

Hello obi and welcome to Scared Monkeys   Thank you for the update.

Thankyou, muffybee!

Bear with me.  Still getting used to posting here.

Welcome obi you are doing great and let us know if you have any questions.

[obi]

Thanks, san and since you volunteered, is it possible to edit or delete a post?

Back on topic, are there any locals out there (or anyone else for that matter)  that have any idea where Jessica's SUV might have gone in the river?

[klaasend]

Thanks, san and since you volunteered, is it possible to edit or delete a post?

Back on topic, are there any locals out there (or anyone else for that matter)  that have any idea where Jessica's SUV might have gone in the river?

Hi Obi - welcome to SM.  It's NOT possible for you to delete your own posts but either I or the moderators can delete something if it's a duplicate or something that shouldn't have been posted.  I can't imagine that you have something that needs to be deleted though 

My feeling on Jessica's SUV is that she may have fallen asleep and went off the side of the road into the river.  I don't know the area though.  I'm hoping that the accident knocked her out and she didn't know what happened.  I read she was still wearing her seat belt so maybe she was passed out?

[obi]

Thanks, san and since you volunteered, is it possible to edit or delete a post?

Back on topic, are there any locals out there (or anyone else for that matter)  that have any idea where Jessica's SUV might have gone in the river?

Hi Obi - welcome to SM.  It's NOT possible for you to delete your own posts but either I or the moderators can delete something if it's a duplicate or something that shouldn't have been posted.  I can't imagine that you have something that needs to be deleted though 

My feeling on Jessica's SUV is that she may have fallen asleep and went off the side of the road into the river.  I don't know the area though.  I'm hoping that the accident knocked her out and she didn't know what happened.  I read she was still wearing her seat belt so maybe she was passed out?

Thanks, klaasend.  Just curious.

I have read 3 reports.  One said she was seatbelted and 2 said not.  The 2 also said that she was apparently struggling to get out the passenger door.  That her hair was caught in the door as if she got the door open and then the pressure closed the door on her hair.
I would think the water rushing in would make her hair point the other way, towards the drivers side, but that's just my opinion.

[Tamikosmom]

My Japanese sister-in-law gave and dressed my six year old granddaughter a beautiful kimono prior to attending a special special family function recently.  Takara's new word for the day was "obi".

Welcome to the Monkey cage.

I do not normally divert from the Natalee Holloway case and ... more recently the Madeleine McCann case but ... your name caught my eye and I felt compelled to say "Hi".

Janet

++++++++++++++++

obi - A wide sash fastened in the back with a large flat bow, worn by women in Japan as a part of the traditional dress.

[obi]

My Japanese sister-in-law gave and dressed my six year old granddaughter a beautiful kimono prior to attending a special special family function recently.  Takara's new word for the day was "obi".

Welcome to the Monkey cage.

I do not normally divert from the Natalee Holloway case and ... more recently the Madeleine McCann case but ... your name caught my eye and I felt compelled to say "Hi".

Janet

++++++++++++++++

obi - A wide sash fastened in the back with a large flat bow, worn by women in Japan as a part of the traditional dress.

Hi, tamikosmom!  Thanks for the welcome and also the info on "obi".  I had never heard that.  Hugs to you and Takara!

Tim (founder and director of Texas EquuSearch) is supposed to be making another trip to Aruba soon.  This month, I think, if I heard him right.

Back on the Jessica topic, I wish we would have had more time to search all street crossings over the Guadalupe.  Not that it would have done any good neccessarliy.  We drove right over the Commons St bridge on Sept 1, but didn't stop as we were headed back to the Outpost for a second look.

[MuffyBee]

Woman Drowned In Guadalupe, Medical Examiner Says

Sep 20, 2007 04:52 PM
The Travis County medical examiner on Thursday said a Central Texas woman found in the Guadalupe River had drowned.

Jessica Birge, 25, was discovered by search teams in her vehicle in the river on Tuesday.

The medical examiner found no signs of foul play.

Comal County sheriff's investigators said they may never know how or where Birge got into the river, but there were signs that the woman had tried to escape from the vehicle.
http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?action=post;topic=2067.20;num_replies=38