Medical Examiner Confirms That Missing Woman Fell To Her Death

Officials with the have confirmed that the body they recovered from the Vulcan Materials quarry on Saturday is Rebecca Youngbeck Ryan.

An autopsy done by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office earlier today confirmed that Ryan, who had been missing from her Racine home since Tuesday, had “died of multiple blunt force injuries consistent with a high fall,” according to a press release from the Caledonia Police Department.

Sgt. Brian Wall said they do believe Ryan’s body had been in the quarry for several days.

The manner of death has not been determined because the medical examiner is waiting for the toxicology results. While the case is still pending, police still don’t suspect any foul play. However, the death hasn't officially been ruled a suicide by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office, Wall said.

Ryan struggled with paranoid tendencies and detachment issues, but she was not on any medications and hadn’t sought help for her mental health issues, said .

Prior to Tuesday, Rebecca hadn’t slept for several days and Jill had been trying to convince her daughter to seek help.

Caledonia Police Chief Toby Schey said his department learned that Ryan had been missing after reading on the Caledonia Patch website. Later in the afternoon, they received official notification from the City of Racine that Ryan was a missing endangered person, which means that the information went out to a statewide law enforcement database.

However, Lt. Charles Weitzel, of the Racine Police Department, said an attempt-to-locate bulletin was sent out through the Racine County Joint Dispatch Center on Tuesday when the Racine Police Department took the initial report.

“A decision was made with whatever facts happened at the time, but another look was given and that’s when the investigation was stepped up,” Weitzel said.

After receiving the report, Caledonia Police officers checked a number of locations Friday afternoon and spoke to a friend of hers that lives in Franksville, but they didn’t learn anything new.

“Initially we were told that Ryan’s backpack was found in the area of 4 ½ Mile and Charles. We checked the area, but we didn’t find anything,” Schey said. “But then on Saturday morning, we learned that the backpack was found near the quarry near Three Mile and Charles, and we checked the Quarry immediately.”