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Body Of Colorado Woman Lost In SD Flood Found By Rancher

BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. (AP) — Authorities in western South Dakota say the body of a 24-year-old Colorado woman who was swept up in flood waters while driving last summer has been found.

Butte County Sheriff Fred Lamphere says an area rancher found the body of Kristen Lakin in a field while working cattle on Easter Sunday. She was found about seven miles downstream from where she disappeared on June 17.

Lakin, of Grand Junction, Colorado, was traveling south on Highway 85 from North Dakota with 57-year-old Roxanne Bleibaum when their SUV was hit with a flash flood from a surging Battle Creek.

Bleibaum survived and was able to walk back to the highway the same day.

Authorities searched for Lakin for weeks last summer without any luck.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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