Man arrested on murder charge after wife found dead in Oregon wilderness following widespread search

Police have arrested and charged a man with the murder of his wife, whose body was found in a remote part of Oregon on Friday, seven days after she went missing while hiking with her two dogs.

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said that on Saturday its deputies arrested Michel Fournier, 71, with the murder of Susan Lane-Fournier, 61. He is being held in a county jail with no bail on a charge of second-degree murder.

The body of Lane-Fournier — who went by the name “Phoenix” — was found in remote wilderness of Welches, an unincorporated community at the foot of Mount Hood, east of Portland. An autopsy conducted Saturday concluded the cause of death was homicide.

The discovery was made after more than 800 search hours involving dozens of officers, K9s and volunteers scouring more than 100 miles of trail. Her two Malinois-mix dogs have also separately been found dead, the sheriff’s office said.

Lane-Fournier was first reported missing when she failed to show up for work in a local shop on Nov. 22. The next day, a member of the public spotted her white 1992 Ford F-250 parked near East Salmon River Road.

“Investigators are looking to speak with anyone who may have seen Michel Fournier in the days before her disappearance or who has information about his activity and whereabouts since then,” the sheriff’s office said.

A month before her disappearance, Fournier-Lane had filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. In court documents seen by NBC affiliate KGW8 of Portland, she gave her name as Susan Lane.

Local people spoke of their shock over her alleged murder and some have gathered at her place of work, a shop selling exotic imported goods, to pray for her, KGW8 reported.