The mother of Meighan Cordie, pictured, didn’t tell authorities all the information relating to her daughter’s disappearance, a prosecutor says. (Mountain Wave Search and Rescue)
Meighan Cordie’s death was ruled an accident this week after she was found dead by the side of a road in Oregon last month, but that didn’t stop a prosecutor from releasing a memo detailing holes in the story her mother told authorities about her daughter’s bizarre disappearance.
Jennifer Weathers, Cordie’s mother, didn’t share all the facts in the missing persons report she made the day after her daughter went missing, the Oregonian reported, citing a decline-to-prosecute memo by Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry.
Weathers initially told police she and her daughter were arguing in the car, but Berry claims she never told police that Cordie had pulled out a clump of her hair. Authorities learned of the quarrel’s physical nature only when a detective confronted Weathers after finding the hair in her car, the memo states.
The mother also said Cordie “got out of” the car, only to later tell investigators that her daughter actually jumped out, according to the memo.
Weathers reported that the car was traveling less than 5 mph, but that speed didn’t account for Cordie’s severe injuries, Berry said.
BODY BELIEVED TO BE THAT OF MISSING OREGON WOMAN, AUTHORITIES SAY
Cordie died instantly when she exited the moving car, hit her head on a guard rail and slid down an embankment. An autopsy subsequently revealed she had suffered an aortic separation, likely after her back hit the guard rail, and also had head trauma.
Also inconsistent was the location of the body. Cordie’s body was found barefoot nine miles from the location Weathers reported — yet her feet didn’t have injuries relating to such a long walk, the memo states.
Berry also noted that Weathers said she took a muscle relaxer before her first polygraph test, prompting a delay until that afternoon. The results were ultimately inconclusive. Weathers never showed up for her second polygraph test, and has yet to reschedule.
DA: MISSING WOMAN DIED INSTANTLY IN JUMP FROM MOM’S CAR
It was determined that Cordie, 27, had not been forced or pushed out of the car’s backseat, where she sat with her 3-year-old daughter, Berry said. Investigators concluded the death was tragic, but wasn’t a crime.
Cordie’s body was found nearly a week after she was reported missing. A team of more than 300 search and rescuers unsuccessfully tried to locate her. Joggers eventually found the body on an embankment.
While Weathers was not being charged in her daughter’s death, she was cited for driving while intoxicated and reckless endangerment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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