In the winter of 2022, the life of Megan Lindquist, a 30-year-old White woman, was violently ended in rural North Dakota. Originally from Washington, Megan had been living in the Williston area with her husband, Jacob Long. On December 14, her body was discovered outside a home several miles east of Buford. An examination revealed she had bruising on her neck and a fatal gunshot wound to her head.
The investigation began to unfold when a man contacted law enforcement to report that Jacob
Long had called him, confessed to killing Megan, and asked for help burying her body. The owner of the property where Megan was found told deputies he heard a gunshot before seeing her body lying near his door. Another witness, the driver of a pickup truck found at the scene, provided a harrowing account of the moments leading up to her death. He said Long had called him for help with a stuck vehicle, but when he arrived, he saw Megan running with Long in pursuit.
The driver, Joseph Viall, said he drove up the driveway, where Long confronted him. Long put a gun to Viall's head and pulled the trigger, but the chamber was empty. The two men fought, and when the property owner came out of his house, Long fled on foot. Investigators later found a revolver in the bed of the pickup and spent shell casings from the same type of gun inside the car Long and Megan shared.
A manhunt for Jacob Long, then 34 years old, lasted for nearly 36 hours. The search concluded when deputies were dispatched to a residence that had been broken into in the Buford area. Believing Long was inside, the Williams County SWAT Team and the Northwest Crisis Negotiations Team were called to the scene. After approximately an hour of negotiations, Long surrendered to authorities without further incident.
Long was arrested and charged with murder, terrorizing, and criminal trespassing. He initially pleaded not guilty. In January 2024, as his trial was about to begin, Long changed his plea to guilty on all charges. Before his sentencing, he met with Megan's family to apologize. In May 2024, Jacob Long was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his wife. He also received a two-year sentence for the terrorizing charge and was credited for time served for criminal trespassing.
