Officials identify body found during search as missing Baxter woman

BAXTER — The body recovered Thursday, May 26, during a search for a missing Baxter woman was positively identified as Jessie Eue.

Contributed / Baxter Police Department

The Baxter Police Department reported the positive identification Friday morning. Eue was missing from her residence since May 17. Law enforcement and fire personnel searched an area near her residence and located the body about 6 p.m. Thursday.

“Later into the evening, we worked with law enforcement and family to make the positive ID,” Baxter Police Chief Jim Exsted said.

Eue’s body was transported to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's office late Thursday afternoon to determine the cause of death. No foul play is suspected at this time, the news release said.

“On behalf of the family and the Baxter Police Department, I just want to thank everyone who participated in the search,” Exsted said.

The Baxter Police Department conducted a ground search Thursday at 5 p.m. on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter as part of the investigation into Eue’s disappearance. Exsted told the search party they believed Eue walked away from her residence.

1/5: Brainerd Fire Chief Tim Holmes helps coordinate the groups as they prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

2/5: Law enforcement officials prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

3/5: Law enforcement preparing to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

4/5: Law enforcement officials prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

5/5: Law enforcement officials prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

Thursday’s search was in the area behind Eue's residence on Golf Course Drive, where she lived with her mother. Eue, 53, went missing from her Baxter home sometime after 8:30 p.m. May 17.

The main search focused on the area behind Eue’s house.

“Coupled with the fact that we hadn't obtained any (surveillance) video from anywhere in town, that kind of showed us that was potentially the spot,” Exsted said.

With the clouds breaking and the sun shining, 87 volunteers broke into two groups and started searching the west side of Cypress Drive. Heading north and south, the two groups split at Clearwater Road and started searching for Eue about 5:30 p.m.

Trudging through thorn bushes and wading through water, the search group worked to form a line around a pond on the former golf course. A “we found a body” was heard as law enforcement officers made their way to the edge of a pond, less than 250 feet from Cypress Drive.

1/4: Law enforcement walking through the woods Thursday, May 26, 2022, on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

2/4: Law enforcement walking through the woods Thursday, May 26, 2022, on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

3/4: Law enforcement walking through the woods Thursday, May 26, 2022, on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

4/4: Law enforcement walk through the woods Thursday, May 26, 2022, on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

Exsted said the area behind Eue's residence was previously searched in the days after she went missing but nothing was found. On Thursday, her body was located on the surface of a pond in the same area.

The Baxter Police Department thanked the volunteers who were part of Thursday’s search as well as everyone who assisted over the past week in reviewing surveillance footage or reporting suspicious activity.

Officials from law enforcement agencies and fire departments from the Crow Wing County area assisted with the search. The search had volunteers from Baxter and Brainerd police departments and fire departments from Brainerd, Crosslake, Ironton, Pequot Lakes, Mission, and Garrison along with the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office, Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Patrol, Crow Wing County Unmanned Aerial Team and Crow Wing County Boat and Water division. North Memorial Health Ambulance and Cuyuna Range Medical Center also assisted.

1/17: Law enforcement officials prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

2/17: Law enforcement preparing to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

3/17: Law enforcement preparing to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

4/17: Crow Wing County Sheriff Mounted Patrol search Thursday, May 26, 2022 for missing Baxter woman Jessie Eue.

5/17: Brainerd Fire Chief Tim Holmes helps coordinate the groups as they prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

6/17: Law enforcement officials prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

7/17: Law enforcement officials prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

8/17: Law enforcement officials prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

9/17: Law enforcement officials prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

10/17: A search party of law enforcement officials coordinates after finding a body during a search for missing Baxter woman Jessie Eue Thursday, May 26, 2022, to the west of Cypress Drive in Baxter.

11/17: Law enforcement splits at Clearwater Road as they prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

12/17: Law enforcement splits at Clearwater Road as they prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

13/17: Yasmin Kujava, a mounted patrol trooper with the Crow Wing County Sheriff's office works with Rain as they prepare to search the old golf course on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter Thursday, May 26, 2022, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

14/17: Law enforcement walking through the woods Thursday, May 26, 2022, on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

15/17: Law enforcement walking through the woods Thursday, May 26, 2022, on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

16/17: Law enforcement walking through the woods Thursday, May 26, 2022, on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

17/17: Law enforcement walk through the woods Thursday, May 26, 2022, on the north end of Cypress Drive in Baxter as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Baxter resident Jessie Eue.

TIM SPEIER, staff writer, can be reached on Twitter @timmy2thyme , call 218-855-5859 or email tim.speier@brainerddispatch.com .