A Powell Butte woman missing since late last month, whose body was found Wednesday, died accidentally due to hypothermia, according to the Crook County Sheriff’s Office.

Undersheriff John Gautney wrote in a news release Thursday that authorities did not suspect foul play in the death of Shauna Fowler, whose body was found by a rancher Wednesday afternoon off the Powell Butte Highway near SW Riggs Road, about a mile and a half from where she was last seen. The state medical examiner confirmed the identity of the body and cause of death.

Fowler, 27, was reported missing to authorities March 27 after having left her residence in the evening of March 26, according to Gautney’s release. It’s not clear what may have transpired between her disappearance and the recovery of the body Wednesday afternoon.

The body was discovered outside the designated search area, according to Gautney, as the search was concentrated east and south of the point last seen.

Gautney said Thursday that search and rescue teams from Crook and Deschutes counties searched for Fowler in the area of Powell Butte for about two weeks before ceasing the “on the ground” search effort April 10. Civil Air patrol and Oregon State Police also conducted aerial searches.

On Thursday morning in Powell Butte, no sign of the death or the search could be seen from Powell Butte Highway or SW Riggs Road.

Fowler graduated from Central Oregon Community College with an associate’s degree in criminal justice in 2009, according to Ron Paradis, director of college relations.

A Facebook group, “Help Find Shauna,” was the scene of a virtual outpouring of support Thursday. Amanda Coleman, one of the administrators of the Facebook group, according to the site, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

“I have been asked by the family to ask you as a community to start taking down her missing flyers,” Coleman wrote in a post Thursday morning. “We brought her home. Now it’s time for healing, remembrance and justice.”

Calls to a listed number for Fowler’s mother, Valerie Smart, were not returned Thursday.

— Reporter: 541-383-0376,

cwithycombe@bendbulletin.com