STATE OF VERMONT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
VERMONT STATE POLICE
CASE#: 26A5003595
RANK/TROOPER FULL NAME: Trooper Aaron Leonard
STATION: VSP Derby Barracks
CONTACT#: 802-334-8881
DATE/TIME: 06/26/2026 8PM
INCIDENT LOCATION: Pepin Road, Brownington
MISSING PERSON: Nicole Richardson
AGE: 39
CITY, STATE OF RESIDENCE: Troy, VT
SUMMARY OF INCIDENT:
In the evening hours of Tuesday, June 30, 2026, while troopers were conducting follow-up investigation related to the disappearance of Nicole Richardson, troopers were dispatched to a report of a woman in distress in the Clyde River near Vermont Route 105 in the village of West Charleston.
A short time later, a bystander and a Vermont game warden located the woman a short distance downriver. She was unresponsive when she was brought to shore. The woman was identified as Nicole Richardson. She was transported by ambulance to North Country Hospital in Newport, where she was pronounced deceased.
Subsequent investigation has revealed the death is not suspicious and is believed to be the result of an accidental drowning. Independent witness statements indicate Richardson voluntarily went into the river and was quickly overpowered by the swift current.
Her body will be brought to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of her death.
***Initial news release, 6:10 p.m. Monday, June 29, 2026***
On June 29th, 2026, at approximately 1312 hours the Vermont State Police Derby barracks received a report of a missing person. Nicole Richardson, age 39 of Troy, VT, was reported to have been last seen at a residence on Pepin Road in Brownington, VT on Friday June 26th at approximately 8PM. Richardson was expected to be traveling from Pepin Road, through Orleans, to Loop Road in Troy but did not arrive and has not been in contact with her family.
A recent photograph of Richardson is included. Richardson was last seen wearing a black and white dress as pictured and operating a maroon 2008 Hyundai Accent sedan bearing VT registration KVW103. Richardson's exact whereabouts are currently unknown. Anyone who has seen or has information on Richardson's whereabouts is asked to call the Vermont State Police Derby barracks at 802-334-8881, option 3.
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