Fiance Pleads After Body Found in Car Towed From Snowbank

A Towed Car Changed the Missing-Person Case

A car that had slid into a snowbank on a rural Washington road was later towed, and investigators searching it found missing Portland woman Jeannie Enyeart inside. More than two years later, her romantic partner, Jon Pharris Ray French, has pleaded no contest to first-degree manslaughter and guilty to second-degree abuse of a corpse.

Enyeart, 47, was reported missing by her son on Jan. 29, 2024, after he could not reach her, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and KPTV. French, now 35, was Enyeart’s fiance and lived with her in Northeast Portland.

Her son’s report started a search that quickly moved beyond the Portland home. Investigators learned that Enyeart’s car was not where French initially said it should be.

The Car Had Been Towed From Washington

KPTV reported that French told officers he had seen Enyeart the day before she was reported missing and that her car should have been in the driveway. Investigators instead learned the car had crashed into a snowbank on a rural road near Stevenson, Washington.

The vehicle had been towed from the site after French had been driving it, according to prosecutors. When investigators located and searched the car, they found Enyeart in the back seat beneath a blanket and other items.

Those facts transformed the missing-person investigation into a homicide case. KPTV reported that authorities later treated Enyeart’s death as a homicide after the car was found.

The more graphic details reported elsewhere are not necessary to understand the prosecution. The central evidence was that a woman reported missing by her son was found in the vehicle that had been removed from a snowy road.

French Was Arrested Days After She Was Reported Missing

French was arrested on Feb. 5, 2024. The case proceeded in Multnomah County Circuit Court for more than two years before the Sept. 4 pleas.

The district attorney’s office said French entered a no-contest plea to manslaughter in the first degree and a guilty plea to abuse of a corpse in the second degree. The court accepted both pleas as the case moved toward sentencing.

That legal distinction matters as the case reaches its final stage. The original investigation involved more serious allegations, but the Sept. 4 plea agreement defines the convictions that will now go to sentencing.

Sentencing Is Scheduled for Sept. 14

French is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 14, according to the district attorney’s office and KPTV. The prosecution has therefore moved from a long-running homicide case to a confirmed criminal resolution.

The Search Crossed State Lines

The car discovery required Portland investigators to contact authorities in Washington. Prosecutors said Enyeart’s vehicle had left the Portland area and crashed on a rural road near Stevenson before it was removed from the snowbank and taken to a local tow yard.

The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office provided information about the crash and towing, including that French had been driving the vehicle. That information helped Portland investigators locate the car and search it as they investigated Enyeart’s disappearance.

French was arrested on Feb. 5, 2024, one week after Enyeart’s son reported her missing. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said the case was handled by homicide detectives and later prosecuted by two county attorneys, with victim advocates assisting Enyeart’s family.

For Enyeart’s son, the case began with an unanswered phone and a missing-person report. The discovery in the towed car provided the answer he was seeking, but it also confirmed the loss his family had feared.

The sentencing hearing will determine the punishment French receives for the manslaughter and abuse-of-corpse convictions.

References: PORTLAND MAN FOUND GUILTY IN CONNECTION TO DEATH OF HIS ROMANTIC PARTNER AND MOVING HER BODY AFTERWARD. - 09/04/26 | Portland man convicted in connection to fiancee’s death, moving body afterward

The Truth In Facts team was assisted by generative AI technology in creating this content