Man's body found north of Carrington

Posted September 18, 2024

A dead body was discovered in rural Foster County last week.

According to Foster County Sheriff Justin Johnson, the body was discovered approximately five miles northeast of Carrington, N.D. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, when a neighbor happened to come across it while mowing the individual's yard.

The body was soon identified as Richard Montonye, a man in his 60s who Johnson said had been living in Foster County for around 12-15 years. He was discovered outside his house between two vehicles in his driveway.

Johnson said Montonye – who lived by himself – had been deceased for at least two or three weeks by the time he was discovered, as his body was already decomposed when law enforcement arrived.

But despite having been deceased for several weeks, there were no missing person reports filed for Montonye, said Johnson. However, law enforcement does not suspect foul play and there are no ongoing investigations regarding his death.

“There’s nothing suspicious about it,” said Johnson. “He was an older guy who lived alone and about the only time anyone ever saw him was when he went into town to pay his rent. Nobody thought it was weird that they hadn’t heard from him because nobody usually hears from him.”

Johnson said the Foster County coroner, Dr. Michael Page, was notified, but that an autopsy usually isn’t conducted when there aren’t suspicious circumstances or concern about foul play.

The body was transported to the local funeral home shortly after its discovery and Montonye’s family has been contacted.