Magnetometer leads authorities to missing Day County woman’s body and vehicle (Audio)

February 4, 2021

Mike Tanner

PIERRE, S.D.–A Pierre-based dive team used pipeline-locating technology to help find the body of a Day County woman who went missing in blizzard conditions on December 23rd.

Forty six year-old Amy Dougherty drove her Chevy Trailblazer (pictured) off a road and into a slough while she was on her way to work in Bristol.

Caleb Gilkerson of Pierre owns Central Divers LLC, and says some of Amy’s family members and friends reached out to him about helping search for her.

Gilkerson says a torpedo-looking device called a magnetometer that is used for locating pipelines in oil and gas fields was used along the surface of the ice, and that’s how they found Amy’s vehicle.

He says while he was searching under water, the visibility was zero…

Amy Dougherty’s body and her vehicle were found in a slough just west of Bristol last Friday.