UPDATE: 4:34 p.m. - August 16, 2024
A Missoula-area motorcyclist missing since last weekend has been found alive.
The Idaho County Sheriff's Office reports Zachary Demoss was found Friday afternoon in the area of the Lost Creek Campground off of U.S. Highway 12.
First responders found Demoss Demoss was alert and conscious and had been drinking water out of a creek. Demoss was flown by Life Flight to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.
A social media post from the Idaho County Sheriff's Office states the following:
On August 16, 2024, at approximately 1:42 PM, Idaho County Dispatch received a call from the International Emergency Response Coordination Center. They had received an SOS call from a Garmin inReach device. The first message didn’t state if there was an emergency, and the second advised the missing biker had been found alive but was in bad shape. A later message from the Garmin confirmed it was missing person Zachary Demoss.
The coordinates given mapped to the Lost Creek Campground, near milepost 136 on Highway 12, and Idaho County Dispatch sent the Kooskia Ambulance, the Lowell QRU, Life Flight, an Idaho County Deputy, and the Idaho State Police to the scene.
Upon arrival, they found Zachary to be alert and conscious. He had been drinking water out of the creek. Mr. Demoss was transported by Life Flight to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.
Sheriff Ulmer wants to thank everyone who helped in the search for Zachary, and we wish him the best on his recovery.
(first report: 9:42 .m. - August 16, 2024)
A search is continuing in Idaho for a Missoula area motorcyclist who has been reported missing.
The Idaho County Sheriff’s Office was alerted on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, that 24-year-old Zachary Demoss was missing.
The caller told authorities that he was Demoss's boss and that he had seen a social media post that Demoss was missing somewhere between Kooskia, Idaho and his home in the Missoula area.
Demoss was riding his black 2000 Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle at the time of his disappearance, and his last known location was in the area om mile marker 135 on U.S. Highway 12.
The Idaho County Sheriff’s Office reports Demoss’s motorcycle was seen parked at that location at about 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2024, by two people riding on another motorcycle who were traveling with Demoss.
The two people parked farther east on U.S. Highway 12 and when Demoss didn’t show up, they went back to look for him and said Demoss wasn’t there
Idaho County Sheriff’s Office deputies, the Idaho County Sheriff’s Posse and Demoss’s family and friends then began searching the area.
Several other agencies were brought in to help search for Demoss on air and by foot on Aug. 13 and Aug. 14. along U.S. Highway 12 between mile marker 75 and Lolo Pass.
The Idaho County Sheriff’s Office further reports that an attempt to ping Demoss’s cell phone was unsuccessful as was a check of traffic cameras near the Montana border. Additionally, no evidence that a crash had happened was not found.
The search is continuing for Demoss but is being scaled back. The Idaho County Sheriff’s Office also notes that although no debris has been seen on the Lochsa or Clearwater rivers, divers will be checking some of the deeper holes along the rivers.
The Idaho State Police, Idaho Fish and Game, the Idaho County Sheriff’s Posse, Life Flight from Missoula, the Idaho Transportation Department, Finley’s Tree Service, and the friends, coworkers, and family of Zachary who have all been helping with the search for Demoss.
We will have additional information as it becomes available.
