Montana Mom Missing For Weeks Found Dead In Storage Unit

A Montana woman who disappeared weeks ago was found dead in her car in a storage unit, marking a tragic turn of events for a missing persons case that shocked a community.

The body of Sally Jane Demaris Smith was located Sunday in a storage unit outside the Great Falls area, the Cascade County Sheriff Office said in a statement. Smith was found in her 2005 Toyota Corolla. Although an autopsy was scheduled to be completed on Tuesday, authorities have not yet released a cause of death. An investigation is ongoing.

Smith, 52, was last seen in Great Falls on Sept. 25 and was believed to be traveling to the Malta area in the same car that she was later found dead in, according to a missing persons alert.

Smith was a wife and mother of four children, and worked as a speech and language pathologist for the Great Falls Public School District, Montana Right Now reports. Her death has left a community in mourning, and her loved ones devastated.

In a statement obtained by Montana Right Now, Smith's family remembered her as a beautiful person whose smile will never be forgotten.

"Our hearts will forever cherish her," their statement reads. "Sally meant the world to us, more than anyone will know. She was loved and adored by thousands, this we know. The overwhelming support and concern to all of the prayers is a testament of how beautiful of a person she was. She left her everlasting smile on this world and no one can take that away from us. Our hearts forever broken. She will forever be a angel walking beside us. She is our light."

The Cascade County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Oxygen.com.