The body of a woman who disappeared several months has been found in the Montana River.

MISSOULA — Authorities have identified a body found in the Clark Fork River near Missoula earlier this month as that of Eva Prater, who went missing several months ago.

Missoula County Sheriff Jeremiah Petersen confirmed that the body recovered from the water on October 13, 2024 is that of 43-year-old Prater. She has been missing since leaving her home on December 31, 2023.

A GoFundMe set up shortly after her disappearance said: “Eva is a gentle, loving woman who has brought goodness to many others, and she is going through a mental health crisis.”

“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Eva M. Prater. We recognize that her case has touched many people in our community who have shown wonderful support and care throughout the search. This shared compassion has been invaluable and we hope that in time everyone can find peace and closure,” the Missoula Police Department said in a statement Friday.

GoFundMe states:

We are saddened to report that nine and a half months later, Eva’s body was discovered in the Clark Fork River in Missoula. Our hearts broke at this news as we held out hope, however faint, for a different outcome. While the coming months will be difficult, we are confident that this news will ultimately bring some closure to our family and those close to Eva.

Click here if you would like to donate.

A social media post said a celebration of Eva’s lifelong service will be held at a later date. The family requests privacy at this time.

The cause and manner of Prater’s death are under investigation.

(JANUARY 21, 2024) The search for Missoula woman Eva Masin Prater continues, with billboards going up across the state to spread the word. Masin Prater was last seen on December 30, 2023.

Electronic billboards are everywhere in Billings, usually advertising for businesses. But now they are being used for a greater purpose – helping in the search for Masin Prater.

Finding Eve: Billboards are being used across the state to help search for missing Missoula woman

“She has so much love inside her,” Kathy Nesky, Masin Prater’s friend, said Saturday. “She’s a really nice person.”

Kind, compassionate and full of love are just a few words friends use to describe Masin Prater.

“You can see it in the way she talks about her children, or interacts with her children, or speaks to your children,” Nesky said. “It’s so interesting to hear everything she knows and what she’s really passionate about.”

But the wife and mother of two recently disappeared, prompting friends and family to launch a massive search.

“A little time has passed, but we are still full of hope. We’re still looking,” Nesky said. “We are here, we are searching and we want to find her. She could be anywhere, so I think it’s really important to keep sharing her picture.”

According to the Missoula Police Department, Masin Prater left her home on Dec. 30 without her wallet or keys. It is believed that she was not dressed appropriately for the weather.

“We have no way of knowing what Eve was thinking. Rational thinking is not what happens in these scenarios,” Nesky said. “I just hope that people can be compassionate… There is still a lot of stigma and shame in our culture and our society. about mental health, and I’ve seen a fair amount of ignorance about it, I think there’s been a lot of questions like, “Why would someone do something like that?” Or “She loves her children so much that I can’t.” I believe she would do it. And I just always want to try to reduce that stigma around mental health.”

Three weeks later, as storms have come and gone, family and friends are still searching, expanding the search perimeter throughout the region.

“The search went far beyond Montana. People say they print out their own flyers when they go to Idaho and post them everywhere. There’s so much to say about all of this,” Nesky said, “The number of people who don’t know Eva who were part of the search and just went out to feed the family. There is so much sadness in all of this, but there was another part of it that I am very proud to be a part of. It brings so much faith back into everything.”

Neski has known Eva and her husband Dave for more than ten years. She is now working tirelessly to find Eve, along with hundreds of other people.

“I first met her partner Dave in 2011. We worked together a little bit and then I met Eva,” Neski said. “We started exchanging children. Every week we kind of went door to door to spend time with each other’s kids. Give each other breaks and things like that.”

A GoFundMe The page was created to assist with financial needs as your search continues. Neski said she was amazed at the support they received throughout the search.

“Dave’s father, Paul, and his wife were in advertising. They’re in Tennessee. She contacted Lamar and just explained to them what was going on and they said, ‘Sure,'” Nesky said.

Lamar is a national billboard advertising company. The Montana-based company’s team recently provided free advertising space for Eva’s search.

Digital billboards featuring Eve have been put up throughout the state, including Billings.

“They’re scattered all over the state, and it’s really nice to just see it and know that all the communities are aware of it,” Neskey said. “We are so grateful.”

They hope the billboards will remind community members to look for Eve, something the Montana Department of Justice (DOJ) has applauded.

“It’s hard to know if someone is missing when you drive past them on a street corner,” Brian Lockerbie, administrator of the Montana Department of Justice’s Criminal Investigation Division, said Friday. “So if you can get a little familiar with what we’re looking for, it might help.”

The Montana Department of Justice has online database of missing persons which anyone can access at any time.

“The public can easily access our missing persons register and see if they have spotted anyone missing. The more we can tell people about this, the more eyes we will have on the ground to help,” Lockerbie said. “There are currently 174 (missing) people on the registry as of Friday morning.”

Eva is a 43-year-old female, 5’4″ tall and weighing 125 pounds. She has blue eyes and brown hair. If you have any information that could assist in the investigation, call the Missoula Police Department at 406-552. -6300 and reference MPD case number 2023-56230.

“It got more complicated last week because the weather prevented us from doing drone searches and things like that. So it feels like stagnation has set in,” Nesky said. “But again, just keep it in your mind, keep thinking about it, keep looking for it. Just keep thinking positively. Keep praying if you do. Just show compassion to your neighbors. You never know what someone else is going through. And I think that’s a very important part of this: it’s just, you never know.”

To view the public Facebook page created for search, Click here. To donate to the GoFundMe set up for the search, Click here.