Friends questioning Boonville woman’s death

An autopsy was scheduled Monday for 31-year-old Sarah Nicholls. Her body was found Saturday afternoon in Moniteau County.

Right now, authorities believe she was carried away by heavy flood waters while camping with a friend in Prairie Home Thursday night.

Some of Nicholls’ closest friends find it hard to believe she was simply swept away.

“I feel like she’s too smart and I feel like she’s too strong to let that happen,” said Christine Watkins, who had been good friends with Nicholls for the past 8 years. “She’s been camping more than hundreds of times and it’s just all really baffling to me.”

Police said Nicholls’ friend went into town to get gas and returned around midnight to find she was gone. He allegedly called friends first to help him look for Nicholls before contacting authorities. She was reported missing Friday morning.

“The main thing is if she was with a group or if she was with a single man, why would they leave her behind?” said Watkins. “And why weren’t authorities called right away? If it was a serious enough matter to call friends, then it was a serious enough matter to get the police involved.”

Saturday, the Cooper County Sheriff’s Office said there would likely be no further investigation.

It could take several weeks for autopsy results.