Missing woman found, arrested after river search

Debra M. Wright, the subject of a two-day search of the Black River, is alive and presently in the Butler County jail.

Authorities spent Monday afternoon and Tuesday searching by boat for Wright after she was reported missing.

Wright was arrested Wednesday morning in the 2000 block of West Henry Street for a probation violation — dangerous drugs. She is being held without bond, said Poplar Bluff Police Lt. Josh Stewart.

While multiple agencies became involved in dragging the Black River on Labor Day for Wright, police say she was under no obligation to let anyone know she was safe. She was reported missing by her boyfriend, Roland L. Paisley of Poplar Bluff.

None of the responding agencies questioned the cost of the search, but the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Poplar Bluff Fire Department called in extra personnel to assist. Poplar Bluff Police Department’s administrative staff was alerted, but they didn’t have additional manpower until Tuesday.

“When we are called for an emergency, we will assume that the emergency is real until proven otherwise,” Poplar Bluff Fire Chief Mike Moffitt said. “I came back in to assist, and we also called in four additional firefighters to assist with this call, costing the city money in overtime.”

Battalion Chief Kevin Edgar even brought in his personal boat and assisted in the search on the second day, Moffitt said.

“When we are put in this situation, we will do whatever is needed to resolve the issue at hand,” Moffitt said. “This puts an extreme amount of stress on the firefighters. Not just the danger and physical stress of working on the scene, but the mental stress of expecting to find a deceased person.

“Until you have been put in that situation, you will not understand the effect it has on a person. In this situation, we are happy the person was found alive and well, but at the same time I am upset about the situation it put our firefighters in unnecessarily.”

MSHP had five full-time Marine Operations troopers in the area, but the dive team came from other parts of the state, said Sgt. Clark Parrott.

“With that being said, every opportunity they have to dive and use their equipment, whether it’s on a call that turns out to be unfounded or not, they can use that as a training dive,” he said. “That way they remain proficient when those calls do come. We tried to strategically place them around the state.”

Parrott explained while the situation may be stressful it helps somewhat with the inoculation of what they are doing and why they’re doing it.

Emphasizing “we have to go off the information we have at the time,” Parrott added, “Yes, it might be a little frustrating, but we’re going to answer every call. Through the investigative process, either clear it or determine it’s unfounded.”

Agreeing with Moffitt, Parrott said, “When we’re determining what resources and assets to send to a situation, the cost is the least of our mindset. That’s what we are sworn to protect, to do.”

Stewart said his department had no reason to doubt Paisley’s report since the department deals with Paisley “pretty regularly. Which was why our belief she was in the river was heightened.

“Typically, he’s not wanting to call the police department. Most of the time, he’s trying to avoid the police department, as opposed to calling us. I think that’s one of the big reasons, we felt this was most likely the case she was in the river. I think he legitimately thought that she had drowned. I don’t think he was attempting to mislead us.”

Officers also interviewed two others who reported she actually went in the river.

“We interviewed one individual who witnessed her being in the river. In talking to him, it seemed like they were probably arguing. He wasn’t close enough to actually hear what the conversation,” Stewart said. “My understanding is she actually did go in the river. Basically, she was able to get down river enough to be out of his view and then she got out. I think she went to a couple other residences that evening and the next morning. We were able to contact her through the third party and get the confirmation she was still alive and well. This morning, we actually took her into custody. She’s right now in Butler County jail on parole violations.”

Stewart said the parole violation warrant is something she’s going to have to deal with.

“Ultimately, that’ll be up to probation [and] parole,” Stewart said. “As far as anything stemming from this incident, I don’t think she’ll face any charges associated with it. I mean, she’s an adult, she doesn’t have to contact us. She’s not under any responsibility to let us know she’s alive.”