Amelia Rose Brooks (courtesy photo)
The remains of a missing woman were pulled from the Yellowstone River by Yellowstone County Sheriff deputies Saturday morning. The report came in from a resident who located the body lying in shallow water while hunting in the Arrow Island Park area near Shepherd.
In addition to the Sheriff’s office, the Shepherd Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the scene, along with American Medical Response. The deputies estimated the remains to belong to a woman in her mid-20s, and based on the decomposition of the body, they assumed she had been dead for just over a month. Upon removal from the water, the body was transported to the State Forensic Facility in Billings.
On Monday an autopsy was performed at the Forensic Facility, and the deceased was identified as Amelia Rose Brooks, 22, a resident of Billings. There were no signs of foul play, and the cause of death remains uncertain as toxicology report results are pending. Those results could take several months to process. Brooks had been reported missing to the Billings Police Department on October 15, 2020.
Brooks is not the first body to be pulled from the Yellowstone River this year. In August, a hunter discovered the body of 18-year-old Anthony Pedigo near Custer Frontage Road and Road 39 South, and Troy Gardner, 54, was pulled from the river near the Huntley Bridge in August. In addition, human remains were discovered on June 30 near Road 25 in Worden.
