Family of Tracey Rieker don't believe she drove in lake intentionally - News Today

The family of missing Florida mother Tracey Lynn Rieker, whose body was found in her submerged SUV in a lake over the weekend, say they don't believe she drove into the water intentionally. Mother-of-four Tracey Lynn Rieker, 44, went missing in the early hours of September 30 in Venice, Florida, leaving behind her wallet and phone.Ten days later on Saturday October 10 around 11.45am her body was found inside her Nissan Xterra vehicle in a lake less than a mile from her home. On Monday Rieker’s autopsy took place in Sarasota but the manner of death has not be revealed due to the ongoing investigation. 'I think that she was confused and I do not think it was intentional, due to either her lack of sleep and the mindset that that would cause. I don’t believe she thought she was driving into a lake,' Tracey's husband Christian Rieker said, according to the Venice Gondolier. On Tuesday Christian Rieker and Tracey's 17-year-old daughter Cassie Studli revealed Tracey had gone out the day before she vanished to preach at Bradenton Beach.'She had gone to the beach to proselytize the day before to talk about God. We talked to her about how worried we were when she did that, so we asked her to not do that again,' Christian said.But the next day she left the house around 3am.At first they thought she’d gone out to preach again then noticed that some of the Christmas plates and other decorations were missing. Tracey had become deeply religious in the months leading up to her death. Her husband noted she had been in the middle of a fasting regiment for a National Day of Prayer on September 26 and kept it going through the weekend. She had also started studying the Bible up to eight hours a day.Her family became concerned when she started to throw away Halloween and Christmas decorates she had for years, claiming they were based on pagan holidays. She even wanted to dispose of a Halloween tree that doubled as a celebration for her daughter Cassie, who was born on October 31. Share this article Share In addition to becoming more religious, Tracey wasn’t sleeping or eating normally prior to her death. After realizing Tracey was gone, the panicked family members reached out to some friends before contacting authorities who were responsive, even though she hadn’t been missing for 24 hours at the time. The following morning Christian posted about Tracey missing on Facebook and thousands of people became involved digitally and in person in the search for her, setting up drones, checking parks and beaches.On Saturday the family was heartbroken to learn Tracey was found dead in a lake less than a mile from their family’s home. No one knows what happened that led up to her death. '