Is it Reaching the Crisis Stage for a Hunter Missing in Montana?

The last reported phone ping was Tuesday afternoon.

Ominous words for friends and family in fear. And there is the added angst compounded by the ping coming from an area that was not on the original hunting itinerary.

Montana's Sanders County Sheriff's office shared via Facebook that they were notified of a missing hunter. The Lincoln County Sheriff's office is also investigating, and report the hunter is identified as 46-year-old Robert Service, from Astoria, Oregon.

Authorities say that Mr. Service came to northwest Montana for his hunting trip. Robert’s wife last spoke with him on the afternoon of Monday, November 13. He was reportedly going to hunt in the Yaak area in Lincoln Country. However, his last phone ping was in Sanders County on Tuesday.

The phone ping from Monday was about 6 miles south of Troy, again, in Lincoln County. But the final phone ping was dated Tuesday, and received about 30 miles east of Clark Fork, which is in the Noxon area (Sanders County).

There are reports that Mr. Service's truck has been found in Sanders County. It is a red 2018 Ford F-350 with Oregon license plates, with a black rack and a fuel tank in the bed.

Anyone who has seen Robert Service or who has any information about his whereabouts is asked to call the Sanders County Sheriff's Office at 406-293-4112, or call 911.

While current weather conditions in the area in question don't sound terribly severe, we all know how quickly that can change. And of course that is only one factor that could be contributing to this serious situation.

Our thoughts are with friends and family and our thanks to all who are participating in the search.

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