Body of missing Troy woman recovered from Savage Lake

The body of a missing Lincoln County woman was found Wednesday inside her truck in Savage Lake.

According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Two Bear Air conducted an aerial search along Montana 56 in an attempt to find 64-year-old Troy resident Beverly Parker Perez's vehicle, a gray 2017 Honda Ridgeline pickup truck. Perez was last seen on Friday, Nov. 3 driving west from Libby to Troy on U.S. 2 in the truck.

At about 11:10 a.m., Two Bear Air notified the Sheriff’s Office that a vehicle had been located submerged in Savage Lake, about 82 feet offshore from the boat ramp.

Divers located the vehicle in 12 feet of water and confirmed that a deceased woman was inside.

Divers from the Boundary County Sheriff’s Office responded and helped get the truck out of the water. Once the vehicle was ashore, the deceased woman was determined to be Perez.

An ongoing investigation is being conducted by Montana Highway Patrol.

According to a report from Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Eric Thoreson, the vehicle was on Montana 56 before heading east on Savage Lake fishing access road when it drove into the water and became fully submerged.

Alcohol and drugs are suspected factors in the incident, the report states.

Perez was a transition Pre-K school teacher at the Plummer School in Libby.

Libby Schools Superintendent Ron Goodman said, “It’s a really terrible, horrible situation. I’ve been in schools since 1994 and I’ve never heard of such a thing with an educator. It’s incredibly unusual.”

Goodman said he first found out about Perez’s disappearance on Sunday when the Sheriff’s Office called him to ask questions.