Butler County woman found in ditch may have drowned

BUTLER COUNTY, Mo. — The recent death of an area woman appears to have been water related, though the manner in which she drowned remains undetermined.

The autopsy of LaDonna M. Williams, who resided on Route AA near Broseley, was completed Monday afternoon, according to Butler County Coroner Jim Akers. Authorities are now waiting on the forensic toxicology report, which will take a couple of weeks.

"The results are consistent with a drowning and this cannot be ruled out as the obvious cause of death," stated Akers. "I can say there were no signs of disease, defect or trauma."

The body of Williams was discovered when two passers-by on County Road 606 observed it Friday morning lying close to the water on the bank of a drainage ditch. The ditch runs along a levee that was breached during bad flooding.

Once authorities were notified, she was pronounced dead at 10:55 a.m. and later identified through her fingerprints.

Williams was last seen on the evening of Feb. 13, which happened to be her 36th birthday. An elderly friend of the family dropped her off upon her request on CR 602, about a quarter of a mile from where she was later found dead.

Williams requested to be left alone, according to Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs. He said he doesn't believe there was anything suspicious about "when, where or who dropped her off." The victim apparently had a long history of mental health issues, Dobbs explained, and it was not uncommon for her to be gone for days at a time.

On Feb. 20, Williams' sister reported her missing since she did not return home for such an extended period of time. Investigators began searching for her shortly after she disappeared, according to the sheriff.

When the body of Williams was discovered two weeks after she turned up missing, the temperature was a high of 70 degrees and the water level in the inner river drainage ditch was at less than three feet high, exposing the well-preserved body.

Akers said the springtime environment was deceptive toward the end of last week and he believes that Williams met her demise very close to the date that she was dropped off. The cold water hindered the decomposition process.

The night Williams disappeared the temperature was in the mid-30s. The Black River was six inches above flood stage, cresting at 16.6 feet, which pushed back up into the drainage causing its level to rise.

Authorities speculate she somehow fell into the ditch and the steepness of the bank, the higher water level and nearly freezing temperature made it more difficult for her to get out.