Woman Missing From Benzie County After Reporting Shoot-Out
April 02, 2022
Forty-seven year old mother of one, Adrienne “Ada” Quintal, has been missing from Michigan since last month.
With hunting season just around the corner, Quintal decided that she would do some work on her families cabin out in the woods in Benzie County, North Michigan. She also planned to spend some time there with her boyfriend who would go on to leave the area a day before her disappearance.
“She was doing work on the house. She was also just getting ready for hunting and hanging out and enjoying the wildlife.” Her son told journalists. Ada had been going to the cabin for years and she knew the village of Honor well.
She got into her vehicle in Southfield, Detroit and drove 200 miles to the family cottage in the woods of Honor, Benzie County. All seemed well and good until a friend received a panicked phone call from her in the middle of the night.
At 2:34 AM on October 17th Quintal made a distressed phone call to a close friend back in the city, stating that she could hear people outside of the cabin and asked her friend to direct the police to the property. The two hung up and the friend quickly made a call to emergency services, however by the time they arrived at the scene Adrienne Quintal was nowhere to be found.
The sheriff's office stayed quiet about the details of what was said in the phone call until a couple of weeks later, when desperate for tips and leads, they revealed that the 47 year old had been involved in some kind of shoot-out with two unidentified men right before she disappeared. Quintal told her friend that two men had been shooting at her through the windows of the cabin and that she had retaliated by shooting back with her own registered handgun.
Shots were confirmed to be heard on the line. She claimed that she had shot one of the men in the face, but the other was continuing to open fire.
Unfortunately her friend gave the emergency services the incorrect address, delaying their assistance. They arrived to the wrong location at 2900 Indian Hill Road in Honor at around 2:48 AM and spent the next several minutes calling around Quintal’s family to obtain the right address at 4900 Indian Hill Road. After a further 22 minutes, at around 3:15 AM, they finally arrived at the bullet ridden cabin in Benzie County, however by then there was no trace of the missing mother of one, nor the two men she had described in the phone call. Puzzlingly, despite the fact that she had described having shot one of them in the face, there was no blood at the scene.
Her personal belongings had been left behind at the cabin, including the cell phone she had used to make the call for help and the handgun she had been firing out into the night. Her handbag with her immediate everyday items was also left behind. A window had been left ajar and the cell phone, along with a pair of boots, was found on the roof, leading police to believe that she had attempted to escape the alleged ambush through the window.
Despite a search of the immediate and surrounding areas with both dogs and thermal cameras, no trace of Quintal or the attackers she described in the distress call were found.
Strangely, later analysis of the bullet damage to the cabin windows and walls suggested that the shots had been fired from inside of the property. Police are unsure if Adrienne left of her own accord or if foul play was involved.
Investigators are also wondering why Quintal called a friend as opposed to 911. Benzie County Sheriff Ted Schendel admitted that a lot of elements in the case didn’t make sense, but that the department was currently in the process of interviewing potential witnesses in and around the area.
Adrienne Quintal is still missing. Whether she left voluntarily or was taken is unknown. Either way she is without her boots, cellphone and immediate everyday items. She has not been heard from since October 17th and her family are concerned for her safety and confused by the events.
She is described as Caucasian, standing at 5”7 and weighing 125 lbs. There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of her whereabouts. Anyone with information is encouraged to call Benzie County police (231) 882-4487 or the Michigan State Police on (866) 774-2345.
