Mum-of-four's remains found in woods six months after she mysteriously disappeared

The skeletal remains of a mum-of-four who mysteriously vanished six months ago have been found in remote woodland, according to authorities.

Emily Strite, 34, was last seen leaving a friend's house in De Soto, southwest of St. Louis, Missouri, where she had been staying up to her disappearance on April 12. She was reported missing by her mother eight days later.

Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said Emily's remains had ben recently found. Her skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near the 4100 block of Frissell Road in De Soto by the property's owner on September 28.

"Through comparison to medical and dental records, investigators with the Regional Medical Examiner's Office determined the remains are those of Emily Strite," Marshak added.

"She was reported missing from the DeSoto area in April this year. At this time, Strite's cause of death is undetermined, and investigators are working to learn how her body ended up where it was found."

Marshak later told The Mirror: "The Medical Examiners Office continues to examine the remains for evidence of cause. As of this morning, there are no suspects and no determination that any crime was committed."

According to the New York Post, Emily had been in and out of an abusive relationship with the father of her youngest child. Emily's mum Charlyn McClain said she last spoke to her on April 12 and that she was going to visit her three other children in the neighbouring state of Illinois where they live with their father, NBC news reported.

But McClain said alarm bells started ringing when the children's father called her to say he had not heard from Emily in more than a week. He was also unaware that she planned to visit him in Illinois.

“He has never called me and questioned anything about Emily or to tell me anything about Emily,” she told NBC. "That’s why I panicked when he called me because he had never done that before.”

According to the US National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUS), there are 448 open missing person cases in Missouri and 782 resolved cases. Across all states and territories of the US, there are 25,052 open missing cases and 49,270 resolved cases.

Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call the JCSO's detective bureau on 636-797-5515.