PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Heather Mounce, the woman who was rescued from an Oregon coast cliff and was then charged with 98 counts of theft and identity theft, was sent to prison Thursday.
Mounce was sentenced to more than 6 years in prison on 16 counts and will be back in a Polk County courtroom in October on more of the charges.
Mounce was charged in July 2018 on 64 counts of felony identity theft and 24 counts of felony criminal mistreatment in the first degree. The charges included dozens of counts of theft and identity theft connected to her work as a Human Resources manager at the Dallas Retirement Village.
She was also charged with stealing the identity and more than $5,000 from a man in his 90s.
KOIN 6 News learned Mounce disappeared in 2017 on the day her employer, Open Road Transportation, called her then-husband to share evidence they say showed she was stealing from the company.
Her 2017 disappearance
Heather Mounce’s family reported her missing in August 2017, and her car was found parked next to Highway 101, north of Florence.
Four days later, Denton Davison — her husband at the time — located her on a cliff near the Sea Lion Caves.
“The woman was clinging onto some bushes on the cliff,” Coast Guard Lt. Alex Webber said at the time. Webber was the pilot for the Coast Guard aircrew that rescued Mounce.
Police at the time said it did not appear that Mounce had been abducted, and evidence suggested she had traveled from her car on her own free will.
Court records show Davison filed for divorce three months later, in November 2017, citing irreconcilable differences.