Their Dad Was Found Dead in Canal After Checking Himself Out of Rehab. Here’s What His Daughters Think Happened
Monty Reuling walked away from an Arizona facility — four days later, a Pinal County Sheriff’s Office deputy located his body in an irrigation canal
Courtesy Brittany Farley
Monty Reuling disappeared on Aug. 26, after voluntarily leaving a rehab facility in Arizona City. Four days later, his body was found in an irrigation canal north of town
After he went missing, daughters Brittany Farley and Regan Reuling tell PEOPLE they hired a private investigator, who was able to obtain footage from local businesses that traced their dad's route
“He was just the best dad, always getting us ice cream, he never missed a thing,” Regan tells PEOPLE
Monty Reuling’s daughters are speaking out after their father's body was found in an irrigation canal days after he checked himself out a rehab facility in Arizona.
Brittany Farley and Regan Reuling tell PEOPLE that their 62-year-old dad had "struggled with insomnia" for as long as they could remember, and that he was prescribed Ambien, which led to "lots of ups and downs."
But recently, their dad, who worked in retail grocery store management, began working extra hours and taking later shifts. The sisters say they also learned he was taking more Ambien, and it was "ruining his ability to function." "And so we were like, we need to get him some help. Let's get him into a rehab," Brittany, 32, tells PEOPLE.
But the sisters never expected that on Aug. 26, one week after checking into The River Source, he would check himself out. "It appeared that he was hallucinating from everything that they had told us, which we had never experienced before with him," says Brittany.
Although his daughters say they weren't aware their leaving on his own was a possibility, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office tells PEOPLE that because Reuling was not in court-ordered treatment, he was free to go. At the time, staff did call the police, who offered him a ride, but Brittany says her dad "declined any assistance...probably from the paranoia and then he was left to just roam free, essentially in the desert."
On Aug. 30 at around 1:15 p.m., a Pinal County Sheriff’s Office deputy located a body in an irrigation canal. Five days later, the Pinal County Medical Examiner positively identified the body as Reuling.
After their dad first went missing, the family hired a private investigator, Regan, 27, tells PEOPLE.
The private investigator was able to obtain footage from local businesses that traced Reuling’s route on Aug. 26, as he walked away from The River Source in Arizona City around 6:40 p.m. local time and headed north out of town.
“You could see that he was in a state of mania and paranoia,” Regan says. “So it was just doubtful anyone had picked him up. And then he was found only less than a half a mile of the last footage that we have, on the edge of town in the canal.”
A representative for The River Source did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, although a representative for the facility told NBC affiliate KPNX-TV they were unable to comment due to HIPAA rules.
Police tell PEOPLE the investigation into Reuling's death is ongoing and that they "cannot disclose very much information" at this point. A toxicology report is still pending from the Medical Examiner.
Regan tells PEOPLE that based on what they've learned, "the assumption is that he probably bent over into the canal to get some water and fell in, because a lot of people don't realize that there's an undercurrent."
“It looks very calm from the top, but with all the layers of the canal dropping, it creates some undercurrent. So it's easy to get swept in," she adds. "They say that bodies usually go underneath and then they surface.”
She continues, “They surface a few days later, which is when he was found. And then if they're not found in that time, they usually sink back again. So we're lucky we even recovered him. But it is believed he died within an hour or two of leaving the facility.”
Courtesy Brittany Farley
Despite feeling alone in their search for their father — and resorting to hiring their own investigator — the sisters were aided by the sheriff’s office, which tells PEOPLE that it had been looking for Reuling since he was reported missing by his family on Aug. 27.
A resident in the area spotted the man at around 2:45 a.m. on the 27th, about eight hours after he left the rehab facility.
The sheriff’s office posted information about Reuling’s disappearance on social media and on neighborhood-specific pages, checked in with other law enforcement agencies and hospitals to see if they had any recent contact, and followed up on leads from residents, the law enforcement office tells PEOPLE.
A ground canvas and a PCSO flyover of the area on Aug. 29 yielded no results — until his body was found the next day.
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In the wake of his death, the sisters are remembering their dad, a former Division I baseball player who loved sports and was a big movie buff.
“He was just the best dad, always getting us ice cream, he never missed a thing,” Regan tells PEOPLE. “We saw him change a lot over the last 10 years. And the more people I've opened up to about this addiction, and especially when it comes to prescription medication, you realize it affects so many more people than you think.
“He just had a great sense of humor and he was a wonderful person,” adds Brittany. “And he's just an example of somebody who went through some struggles with the insomnia and just in life, and it kind of got him down, and he was just trying to work to afford his life. And sadly, this happened.”
She continues, “So it was just kind of hard to see the decline a little bit, but we just want to really advocate for him because we feel like we were the only ones to do that in this scenario, and we really just thought we were getting him the help. And we just want families to be more aware of what could happen in this situation when you're putting a loved one in a facility like this.”
If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
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