Traverse City News and Events

Body Identified As Missing Woman Adrienne Quintal

By Beth Milligan | Dec. 24, 2019

A body recovered in three feet of water in a flooded area of the Platte River Saturday has been identified as that of Adrienne "Ada" Quintal, a Michigan woman missing since October 17.

Quintal, 47, disappeared from her family cabin in Honor after calling family members and telling them she had a shoot-out with two men on the property and had shot one of the men. Authorities found spent casings and bullet holes at the cabin, along with a gun and Quintal's personal possessions, but the woman was nowhere to be found. Family members offered a $100,000 reward for information regarding her disapperance, and have helped lead search efforts as authorities continued to investigate in the ensuing weeks.

According to the Benzie County Sheriff's Office, K-9 teams searching the property earlier this month flagged an area of interest that "was flooded and almost impossible to search." The family offered to let some of the water out of the so-called "beaver pond" so that the K-9 teams could come back and conduct a thorough search of the area. On Saturday, Quintal's family and friends attempted to drain the water and began searching the flooded area - located in the area of Indian Hill Road and Hooker Road, in the north branch of the Platte River - with a canoe.

While conducting the search, the group found a body and backed out of the area, calling the Benzie County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities formed a recovery team and went to the location and retrieved the body. The Sheriff's Office says that the body was fully submerged until more than a foot of water was drained, which helped searchers locate it.

An autopsy was conducted on Sunday, and the body was confirmed to be that of a Caucasian female. "We are confident because of identifying marks, such as scars and a tattoo on her right ankle, that the body is in fact that of Adrienne Quintal," the Sheriff's Office wrote in a statement Monday. "The medical examiner will verify the identity as soon as x-rays are compared and confirmed."

An initial investigation revealed no sign of foul play, according to the Sheriff's Office. The medical examiner is still waiting for toxicology results before making a final determination of cause of death. More information will be released on the case as it becomes available, according to the Sheriff's Office.

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