Case No. DHF-088 | Subject: Susan "Phoenix" Lane, 61, of Brightwood, Oregon — last seen alive on Thursday 21 November 2024, reported missing after she failed to show up for work the next day, and found dead on Friday 29 November 2024 near her own home; her husband, Michel Fournier, was convicted of her murder on 5 March 2026 | Date: Thursday 21 November 2024 (last seen alive); Friday 22 November 2024 (reported missing); Friday 29 November 2024 (body found); Thursday 5 March 2026 (conviction); Friday 6 March 2026 (sentence) | Location: Brightwood and Welches, at the foot of Mount Hood, Clackamas County, Oregon, USA | Status: CONVICTED
Posted: 13 November 2026
Status stamp: CONVICTED
Why this file is stamped CONVICTED: The stamp records only the position as it stands on 13 November 2026. Susan Marie Lane, 61 — known to everyone around Mount Hood as "Phoenix" — was last seen alive on Thursday 21 November 2024. She did not show up for work the next day, and a search that treated her as a missing hiker went on for a week. On Friday 29 November 2024, her body was found near her own home in Brightwood, under a tarp, and the state medical examiner ruled her death a homicide. Her husband, Michel Fournier, was arrested the next day and charged with second-degree murder. After an eight-day trial in Clackamas County Circuit Court, a jury found him guilty on Thursday 5 March 2026 of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon, and on Friday 6 March 2026 a judge sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. The conviction is a fact of the court record. Fournier still faces separate charges of first-degree aggravated animal abuse over the deaths of Lane's two dogs, and those charges have not been resolved. This file states the prosecution's case as the prosecution's case, and the family's words as the family's words. If the remaining charges are resolved, or if any further official statement changes the position, this file will be updated, dated, and re-stamped if the facts require it — never quietly rewritten.
Image note for readers: All images in this file are original illustrations created for Dark History Files. They are atmospheric artwork, not photographs and not real evidence. No image in this file depicts Susan Lane, Michel Fournier, any member of either family, any searcher, any investigator, any official, or any real person, and no image depicts any act of violence, any death, or any search for a body.
Caption: Case card for DHF-088 — the murder of Susan "Phoenix" Lane, Mount Hood, Oregon. Status: CONVICTED.
THE FILE CARD
| Case File No. | DHF-088 |
| Subject | Susan Marie Lane, 61, known as "Phoenix", of Brightwood, Oregon. She worked at the Hoodland Bazaar in Welches and led sound bath meditations. She was last seen alive on Thursday 21 November 2024. |
| Date | Thursday 21 November 2024 (last seen alive); Friday 22 November 2024 (reported missing); Friday 29 November 2024 (body found); Saturday 30 November 2024 (husband arrested); Thursday 5 March 2026 (conviction); Friday 6 March 2026 (sentence). |
| Location | Brightwood and Welches, at the foot of Mount Hood, Clackamas County, Oregon, USA. |
| Status | CONVICTED |
| Investigating authorities | Clackamas County Sheriff's Office (leading); Clackamas County District Attorney's Office (prosecution); Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office (autopsy). |
| Convicted person | Michel Fournier, 72, Lane's husband. Convicted 5 March 2026 of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon; sentenced 6 March 2026 to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. He still faces two counts of first-degree aggravated animal abuse over the deaths of Lane's two dogs. He is convicted, not merely charged, on the murder counts. |
| One-line summary | A 61-year-old woman known as "Phoenix" vanished near Mount Hood in November 2024 and was searched for as a missing hiker for a week; her body was found under a tarp near her own home, and in March 2026 her husband was convicted of murdering her. |
THE CASE
The woman they called Phoenix
In the small villages around Mount Hood, in Oregon, Susan Marie Lane was known to everyone as Phoenix. She was 61, and she worked at the Hoodland Bazaar in Welches, a shop selling exotic imported goods, where she also led sound bath meditations. A memorial page set up after her death called her an artist, a healer and a connector. She lived in Brightwood with her husband, Michel Fournier, and her two dogs, Elros and Elrond — Malinois-mix dogs, fiercely protective of her, who went almost everywhere she went.
She had been married to Fournier for twelve years, since May 2012. By the autumn of 2024, the marriage was ending. On 31 October 2024, Lane filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. An attempt to serve Fournier with the papers on 8 November failed; prosecutors later told jurors he was served on 20 November. Clackamas County officials said later that Lane had become increasingly fearful of Fournier, and that she had begun taking proactive measures to protect her dogs and her important documents. Her brother, Michael Lane, said publicly during the legal proceedings that the motive was not mysterious to the family: Fournier's name was not on the lease, and he accused him of trying to stop the divorce so he could hold on to the home.
The last day anyone saw her alive was Thursday 21 November 2024. She was seen loading her two dogs into her white Ford F-250 after closing up the shop that evening. She was afraid Fournier would harm the dogs, her friends and family said later, and that was why she brought them to work with her. The next morning, Friday 22 November, she did not turn up for her shift. Her employer reported her missing, and friends and concerned residents of Brightwood began a search for her.
A missing hiker
The search that followed was built on a single assumption: that Phoenix Lane had gone missing in the woods. The next day, a member of the public spotted her white 1992 Ford F-250 parked near East Salmon River Road, close to a popular trail. Her friend Cari Gesch was the one who found the truck, parked along Salmon River Road. With the truck at a trailhead and the dogs gone too, the sheriff's office described Lane as a missing hiker, and the operation that followed was a wilderness search — dozens of officers, K9 teams, drone teams and volunteers, trekking through more than 100 miles of trail, logging more than 800 search hours before operations were suspended because of the weather.
But the people who knew her best never bought the missing-hiker story. Her son, Dakota Lane, told local television during the search that his mother had prior search-and-rescue experience in California and knew how to move safely in remote terrain. Her friend James Evans, who organised the search party, said publicly that he did not believe she had simply vanished on a hike. The community gathered at her place of work to pray. And all the while, the search kept going in the wrong direction — through wet woods and roadside areas, looking for a woman who, as prosecutors would later say, had never left home alive.
Meanwhile, Fournier's own account was unravelling. He did not initially report Lane as missing. He ended up calling 911 on Sunday 24 November, after detectives tried to contact him. While on the phone with dispatch, he was asked if he had reported Lane as missing, and he responded: "No, but I'm doing it now, I just got served with divorce papers." When deputies first questioned him, he told them he had last seen her on 22 November, that her truck was at the house and her dogs were with her. He said he had hitchhiked to Portland that day to get a part to repair his vehicle, and that when he returned, Lane was gone, and so was her truck and her dogs.
Investigators obtained surveillance video from an auto parts store that showed Fournier was driving Lane's truck — with her dogs inside — just before he entered the store. When questioned about the video, Fournier offered no explanation. The 48 Hours account of the case adds two more pieces of that surveillance trail: footage from Halsey Auto Parts shows the truck arriving with the dogs just before Fournier enters the store, contradicting his claim that he had hitchhiked there; and about two hours later, further footage shows the same truck travelling toward the mountain without the dogs. Lane's truck was also seen on Northeast Marine Drive, parking next to the Columbia River. Investigators searched the area and found Lane's cell phone destroyed and submerged in the river. Prosecutors said that helped show an effort to stage the case as a disappearance rather than a killing.
Under the tarp
On Friday 29 November 2024, a week after Lane was last seen, the search came to an end a few hundred yards from where it should have started. James Evans was part of the group that found her body in the Welches area, near East Highway 26 and East Miller Road, just south of the Brightwood property. He later recalled lifting a tarp and seeing boots underneath. County officials said Fournier had covered her body with a tarp and hidden it within 400 yards of their house. The state medical examiner conducted an autopsy and ruled the death a homicide.
Fournier was arrested the next day, Saturday 30 November, and charged with second-degree murder. He was held in the county jail without bail. The sheriff's office asked anyone who might have seen Fournier in the days before her disappearance, or who had information about his activity and whereabouts since then, to come forward. The bodies of Lane's dogs were later discovered in Multnomah County. County officials said Fournier had killed the dogs and disposed of their bodies to add to the appearance that Lane was missing.
That was the shape of the case the state would take to trial: a woman who had filed for divorce and was, in the county's words, increasingly fearful; a husband who, prosecutors said, had devised a methodical and malicious plan; a body hidden a short walk from the house; and a missing-hiker story built out of a parked truck, a staged disappearance, and a week of searching in the wrong place. Deputy District Attorney Alex Hayes told jurors the killing was a "brutal execution". Prosecutors said Fournier was motivated by his fear of losing property in the divorce — specifically, the shared home, which was in Susan Lane's name.
Eight days in court
Fournier pleaded not guilty and chose to go to trial instead of resolving the case at a plea setting in February 2026. The trial opened on 24 February 2026 in Clackamas County Circuit Court and lasted eight days. Deputy District Attorneys Alex Hayes and John Millar prosecuted. In his opening statement, Millar told jurors that Lane-Fournier had been ready to begin a new part of her life. "She ended up, instead of starting that new chapter, wrapped in a tarp and dumped in the woods," he said.
The state's evidence was the record of those eight days in November 2024: the divorce papers served on 20 November; the last sighting on 21 November; the truck at the trailhead; the surveillance video showing Fournier driving the truck with the dogs; the phone destroyed and sunk in the Columbia River; the body under the tarp within 400 yards of the house. Prosecutors also told jurors about Fournier's own words — in jailhouse calls to Lane's adult son, they said, he admitted he had "lost it" and added that he would be paying for it for a long time, and in another interview played in court he admitted killing the dogs, saying they trusted him.
On Thursday 5 March 2026, the jury found Fournier guilty of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon. The next day, Friday 6 March, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. KGW reported that the five-year sentence for unlawful use of a weapon would run concurrently with the life sentence. Emotions were high in the courtroom as Lane's family and friends listened to the verdict and delivered victim impact statements.
The murder case's main chapter closed with that sentence, but the record left one thread open. County officials said Fournier still faces two counts of first-degree aggravated animal abuse tied to the deaths of Elros and Elrond. Those allegations were not resolved by the murder verdict, and they remain an additional legal front in the case.
Why this file is being opened now
This case was not new when it returned to the news. It was settled in court eight months ago. What brought it back was television: CBS's 48 Hours is airing an episode on the case, "Murder at Mount Hood", on Saturday 14 November 2026 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, streaming on Paramount+, with Peter Van Sant talking to Lane's sons Jesse and Dakota Lane, her brother Mike Lane, and James Evans, the friend who organised the search party, along with the Clackamas County detectives and prosecutors who built the case. The episode is being promoted across CBS's channels this week, and people searching for the case this weekend will find a story that was, for a week in November 2024, a missing-hiker search — and was, in the end, a murder at home.
That is the part of this file that matters most. For seven days, dozens of people searched more than 100 miles of trail for a woman who was already dead a few hundred yards from her own front door. The search was real, and the people who carried it out were acting in good faith. But the people who knew Phoenix Lane best were right from the start: the story did not fit, and the answer was not in the woods. The jury's verdict says the same thing the community said in November 2024 — that she never went missing on a hike at all. What remains now is not the question of who killed Susan Lane. It is the smaller, still-open question of the two dogs, and the longer question of how a search that big can look in the wrong place for a week.
Caption: Illustration of a misty forest at dawn near Mount Hood — atmospheric artwork, not a photograph of any search area, and not evidence.
TIMELINE
- May 2012 — Susan Marie Lane and Michel Fournier marry. The marriage lasts twelve years. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full, reporting The Oregonian).
- Thursday 31 October 2024 — Lane files for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- Friday 8 November 2024 — An attempt to serve Fournier with the divorce papers fails. — USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full); Law&Crime via Internewscast, 26 February 2026 (read via search summary).
- Wednesday 20 November 2024 — Fournier is served with the divorce papers. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- Thursday 21 November 2024 — Lane is last seen alive, seen loading her two dogs, Elros and Elrond, into her white Ford F-250 after closing up the Hoodland Bazaar in Welches that evening. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); Memorable TV, 12 November 2026 (read via search summary).
- Friday 22 November 2024 — Lane does not show up for work. Her employer reports her missing. Friends and concerned residents of Brightwood begin a search. The sheriff's office describes her as a missing hiker. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); iHeart/WBEX, 2 December 2024 (read in full, reporting CNN Newsource).
- Saturday 23 November 2024 — A member of the public spots Lane's white 1992 Ford F-250 parked near East Salmon River Road, close to a popular trail. Her friend Cari Gesch is the one who finds the truck, parked along Salmon River Road. — iHeart/WBEX, 2 December 2024 (read in full); Memorable TV, 12 November 2026 (read via search summary).
- Sunday 24 November 2024 — Fournier calls 911 after detectives try to contact him. Asked if he reported Lane as missing, he says: "No, but I'm doing it now, I just got served with divorce papers." — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full).
- Friday 29 November 2024 — James Evans is part of the group that finds Lane's body in the Welches area, near East Highway 26 and East Miller Road, under a tarp, within 400 yards of the Brightwood home. The state medical examiner rules the death a homicide. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- Saturday 30 November 2024 — Fournier is arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He is held in the county jail without bail. — iHeart/WBEX, 2 December 2024 (read in full); Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full).
- February 2026 — Fournier, who has pleaded not guilty, chooses to go to trial instead of resolving the case at a plea setting. — USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- Tuesday 24 February – Thursday 5 March 2026 — The trial runs for eight days in Clackamas County Circuit Court (case 24CR63412), prosecuted by Deputy District Attorneys Alex Hayes and John Millar. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- Thursday 5 March 2026 — A jury finds Fournier guilty of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- Friday 6 March 2026 — Fournier is sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- Saturday 14 November 2026 — CBS's 48 Hours airs "Murder at Mount Hood" at 10 p.m. ET/PT, streaming on Paramount+. — Memorable TV, 12 November 2026 (read via search summary).
EVIDENCE & LEADS
- The divorce papers (31 October – 20 November 2024): Lane filed for divorce on 31 October 2024, citing irreconcilable differences. An attempt to serve Fournier on 8 November failed; he was served on 20 November. County officials said Lane had become increasingly fearful of Fournier and had begun taking proactive measures to protect her dogs and her important documents. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- The last sighting (Thursday 21 November 2024): Lane was last seen alive on 21 November, seen loading her two dogs into her white Ford F-250 after closing up the Hoodland Bazaar in Welches. Friends and family said later that she feared Fournier would harm the dogs, which was why she brought them to work. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); Memorable TV, 12 November 2026 (read via search summary); 48 Hours via Facebook, 12 November 2026 (read via search summary).
- The missed shift (Friday 22 November 2024): Lane did not show up for work the next day, and her employer reported her missing. Friends and concerned Brightwood residents began a search. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); iHeart/WBEX, 2 December 2024 (read in full).
- The truck (Saturday 23 November 2024): A member of the public spotted Lane's white 1992 Ford F-250 parked near East Salmon River Road, close to a popular trail. Memorable TV names her friend Cari Gesch as the one who found the truck, parked along Salmon River Road. The truck's position at a trailhead is what set the missing-hiker search in motion. — iHeart/WBEX, 2 December 2024 (read in full); Memorable TV, 12 November 2026 (read via search summary).
- The search scale: More than 800 search hours involving dozens of officers, K9 teams, drone teams and volunteers, trekking through more than 100 miles of trail, before operations were suspended because of the weather. — iHeart/WBEX, 2 December 2024 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- The family's doubt from the start: Her son, Dakota Lane, told local television during the search that his mother had prior search-and-rescue experience in California and knew how to move safely in remote terrain. Her friend James Evans said publicly that he did not believe she had simply vanished on a hike. — USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full; single source for both statements — see fact log).
- The 911 call (Sunday 24 November 2024): Fournier did not initially report Lane as missing. He called 911 on 24 November after detectives tried to contact him. Asked if he had reported Lane as missing, he said: "No, but I'm doing it now, I just got served with divorce papers." — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full).
- Fournier's first account: When deputies first questioned him, Fournier said he had last seen Lane on 22 November, that her truck was at the house and her dogs were with her. He said he had hitchhiked to Portland that day to get a part to repair his vehicle, and that when he returned, Lane was gone, and so was her truck and her dogs. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full).
- The surveillance video: Investigators obtained surveillance video from an auto parts store that showed Fournier was driving Lane's truck, with her dogs inside, just before he entered the store. When questioned about the video, Fournier offered no explanation. The 48 Hours account adds that footage from Halsey Auto Parts shows the truck arriving with the dogs just before Fournier enters the store, and that about two hours later the same truck was seen travelling toward the mountain without the dogs. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); 48 Hours via Facebook, 12 November 2026 (read via search summary; single source for the store name and the two-hours-later footage — see fact log).
- The phone in the river: Lane's truck was also seen on Northeast Marine Drive, parking next to the Columbia River. Investigators searched the area and found Lane's cell phone destroyed and submerged in the river. Prosecutors said that helped show an effort to stage the case as a disappearance rather than a killing. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- The body (Friday 29 November 2024): James Evans was part of the group that found Lane's body in the Welches area, near East Highway 26 and East Miller Road. He later recalled lifting a tarp and seeing boots underneath. County officials said Fournier had covered her body with a tarp and hidden it within 400 yards of their house. The state medical examiner conducted an autopsy and ruled the death a homicide. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- The arrest (Saturday 30 November 2024): Fournier was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, and held in the county jail without bail. The sheriff's office asked anyone who might have seen Fournier in the days before her disappearance, or who had information about his activity and whereabouts since then, to come forward. — iHeart/WBEX, 2 December 2024 (read in full); Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full).
- The dogs: County officials said Fournier killed Lane's two dogs and disposed of their bodies to add to the appearance that Lane was missing. The dogs' bodies were discovered in Multnomah County. Fournier still faces two counts of first-degree aggravated animal abuse over the deaths. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- The prosecution's motive: Prosecutors said Fournier was motivated by his fear of losing property in the divorce, and specifically feared losing the shared home, which was in Susan Lane's name. Deputy District Attorney Alex Hayes told jurors Fournier had devised a methodical and malicious plan that resulted in a "brutal execution". — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full).
- The opening statement: In his opening statement, Deputy District Attorney John Millar told jurors Lane had been ready to begin a new part of her life. "She ended up, instead of starting that new chapter, wrapped in a tarp and dumped in the woods," he said. — USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full, reporting The Oregonian).
- Fournier's own words, as prosecutors presented them: Prosecutors told jurors that in jailhouse calls to Lane's adult son, Fournier admitted he had "lost it" and added that he would be paying for it for a long time, and that in another interview played in court he admitted killing the dogs, saying they trusted him. — USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full; single source — see fact log).
- The verdict and sentence (5–6 March 2026): After an eight-day trial, a jury found Fournier guilty of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon on 5 March 2026. On 6 March 2026 he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. KGW reported that the five-year sentence for unlawful use of a weapon would run concurrently with the life sentence. Clackamas County Circuit Court case 24CR63412. — Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 (read in full); USNN, 23 March 2026 (read in full); KGW via Instagram, 9 March 2026 (read via search summary; single source for the concurrent-sentence detail — see fact log).
- What is NOT evidence in this file: any claim about what happened inside the Brightwood home beyond what prosecutors presented at trial and what the county has stated (this file does not reconstruct the killing itself); any claim about Fournier's state of mind beyond the motive prosecutors argued in court; any claim about the dogs' deaths beyond the county's statement and the pending charges; any claim about what the 48 Hours episode will show beyond its announced contents; any social-media theory about the case.
Caption: Illustration of a mountain road at dusk — atmospheric artwork, not a photograph of any place in this case, and not evidence.
STILL UNKNOWN
- What happened inside the house on 21 or 22 November 2024? The county has stated that Fournier shot Lane at the Brightwood home, and the jury convicted him on that account. This file does not reconstruct the killing itself beyond the court record, and the exact sequence inside the house is not something any public source relied on here describes in full.
- When exactly were the dogs killed, and where? The county has said Fournier killed the dogs and that their bodies were found in Multnomah County. The timing and the place of their deaths are not stated in any source relied on here, and the animal abuse charges are still pending — so this file does not state them as settled.
- What will the animal abuse case decide? Fournier still faces two counts of first-degree aggravated animal abuse. No date or outcome for that case has been reported in any source relied on here.
- Why did the missing-hiker theory hold for a week? The truck at the trailhead, the dogs gone, and a woman known for the outdoors made the wilderness story plausible at first. What the record does not explain is why the doubt raised by her family — that she knew the terrain, that the story did not fit — did not redirect the search sooner. This file does not answer that; it records that the doubt was there from the start.
- What will the 48 Hours episode add? The episode airs on 14 November 2026 and features interviews with Lane's sons, her brother, James Evans, and the detectives and prosecutors. Whether it contains anything not already in the court record is not known until it airs.
What would change this file: if the aggravated animal abuse charges are resolved; if any appeal or further court filing changes Fournier's position; if the 48 Hours episode or any official statement adds a verified fact; or if any family statement is released, this file will be updated with the date, the source, and the new stamp if the facts require it — never quietly rewritten. Until then, the stamp stays CONVICTED.
WATCH THE FULL STORY
No companion video yet. If Dark History Files' sister channel Curiozoid publishes a video on this case, it will be linked here. CBS's 48 Hours airs an episode on this case, "Murder at Mount Hood", on Saturday 14 November 2026 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, streaming on Paramount+.
SOURCES
- Clackamas County, 6 March 2026 — "Michel Fournier sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife" (https://www.clackamas.us/news/2026-03-06/michel-fournier-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-murdering-his-wife): jury found Fournier guilty of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon after an eight-day trial; sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years; Lane murdered at the Brightwood home on 22 November 2024; body covered with a tarp and hidden within 400 yards of the house; dogs killed and their bodies disposed of, later found in Multnomah County; married 12 years; divorce served 20 November 2024; Lane increasingly fearful, protecting dogs and documents; motive per prosecutors — fear of losing property, specifically the home in her name; Hayes's "brutal execution" words; body found 29 November by a community member; Fournier arrested; dogs' bodies found in Multnomah County; last seen alive 21 November; employer reported absence 22 November; 911 call 24 November with the "I just got served with divorce papers" words; hitchhike account; auto parts store surveillance showing Fournier driving the truck with the dogs; truck on Northeast Marine Drive; phone destroyed and submerged in the Columbia River; animal abuse charges still pending; case 24CR63412; prosecutors Alex Hayes and John Millar. Read in full on 13 November 2026.
- USNN, 23 March 2026 — "Prosecutors say Oregon man killed wife and both her dogs after she filed for divorce" (https://usnn.com/prosecutors-say-oregon-man-killed-wife-and-both-her-dogs-after-she-filed-for-divorce/): reporting The Oregonian's account of the case — divorce filed 31 October 2024, irreconcilable differences; serve attempt 8 November failed, served 20 November; last seen alive 21 November; missed work 22 November; truck at trailhead; 800+ search hours; Dakota Lane on his mother's search-and-rescue experience; James Evans's doubt; Evans found the body near East Highway 26 and East Miller Road, lifting a tarp and seeing boots; homicide ruling; surveillance and the phone in the Columbia River; jailhouse-call admissions as presented by prosecutors; brother Michael Lane on the lease and the home; Millar's opening-statement words; trial opened 24 February, eight days, verdict 5 March, sentence 6 March, life with parole after 25 years; animal abuse charges pending; married since May 2012. Read in full on 13 November 2026.
- iHeart/WBEX (Newsradio 92.7 WBEX), 2 December 2024 — "Man Charged With Murder After Wife's Body Found In Wilderness During Search" (https://wbex.iheart.com/content/2024-12-02-man-charged-with-murder-after-wifes-body-found-in-wilderness-during-search/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook): reporting CNN Newsource — Fournier, 71, arrested Saturday and charged with second-degree murder, held without bail; Lane, 61, found 29 November in Welches; autopsy ruled homicide; more than 800 search hours, dozens of officers, K9s, volunteers, 100+ miles of trail; first reported missing when she failed to show for work 22 November; white 1992 Ford F-250 spotted near East Salmon River Road the next day; divorce filed a month before, irreconcilable differences; community gathered at her shop to pray. Read in full on 13 November 2026.
- Memorable TV, 12 November 2026 — "48 Hours: Murder at Mount Hood (CBS, Saturday, November 14, 2026)" (https://www.memorabletv.com/news/48-hours-murder-mount-hood/): Lane known as "Phoenix", fixture at the Hoodland Bazaar in Welches, led sound bath meditations; did not turn up for her shift 22 November 2024; seen loading her two dogs into her white Ford F-250 after closing the shop the night before; truck spotted by friend Cari Gesch parked along Salmon River Road; search called off because of the weather; friends shifted attention closer to home; body found 29 November just south of the property; divorce filed weeks earlier; Fournier, then 71, arrested within hours, jury convicted him of second-degree murder in March; prosecutors argued he shot her at home because he feared losing the house, which was in her name; sentenced to life with parole after 25 years; still faces animal cruelty charges over the dogs, Elros and Elrond; Peter Van Sant talks to sons Jesse and Dakota Lane, brother Mike Lane, James Evans, detectives and prosecutors; airs Saturday 14 November 2026, 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, streams on Paramount+. Read via search summary on 13 November 2026.
- 48 Hours (CBS) via Facebook, 12 November 2026 — clip "Murder at Mount Hood" (https://www.facebook.com/reel/1150145227534071/): friends and family, including friend Sarah Caswell and son Dakota Lane, say Lane feared her husband would harm the dogs; detectives traced her phone and pulled surveillance; Halsey Auto Parts footage shows the truck arriving with the dogs just before Fournier enters the store, contradicting his hitchhike claim; about two hours later the truck is seen travelling toward the mountain without the dogs; Detective Alex Monarch concludes Fournier disposed of the dogs and was returning home. Read via search summary on 13 November 2026.
- KGW via Instagram, 9 March 2026 — reporter update on the verdict (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVrRCDagOxR/): jury convicted 72-year-old Fournier of second-degree murder and sentenced him to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years; Fournier also found guilty of unlawful use of a firearm, with that five-year sentence to run concurrently with the murder sentence; victim impact statements from family and friends. Read via search summary on 13 November 2026.
- Social scan, 13 November 2026: social.search (Instagram/Threads/Facebook, engagement-ranked, since 10 November 2026) and news-vertical searches returned the Susan "Phoenix" Lane case as the freshest trending true-crime story of the day — the CBS 48 Hours "Murder at Mount Hood" promotion (Instagram reel 12 November, 3.1K likes; Facebook reel 12 November, 2.5M-follower 48 Hours page) and the episode's Saturday 14 November air date driving current search interest, ahead of the MSC Seascape cruise-ship murder (already DHF-073) and the Koa Sharpe case (already DHF-078). The trending call for this pick rests on that news record plus that social record, stated honestly here. No claim in this file rests on a social-media post alone, except the Halsey Auto Parts surveillance details, which are labelled as a 48 Hours account in the post and in the fact log. No search-volume numbers are stated anywhere in the draft, because no tool returned any.
- No competitor article text or image is reproduced in this file. Facts are stated in Dark History Files' own words, with official material attributed to its source. No source beyond those listed above was relied on for facts in the draft. No search-volume numbers are stated, because no tool returned any.
Reader question: The search for Phoenix Lane was organised by the people who knew her best — the same people who never believed the missing-hiker story. When the people closest to a missing person say the official story does not fit, how much weight should their doubt carry?
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