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Terrebonne Man Still Missing In Idaho Wilderness

GRANGEVILLE, ID -- A Terrebonne man is among four hunters missing since May 21, when their SUV drove into the Selway River in a remote Idaho wilderness near the Montana border. Idaho County Sheriff Doug Giddings says it's a dangerous stretch of river swollen with snow melt where people have died before, "They will wash up wherever they do. And we can't say- sometimes they'll come up within a few hundred yards; it all depends on where they're hanging up, and there's no way you can guesstimate that."

 

Two men managed to escape the vehicle after the crash and go for help. But, when searchers returned to the scene there was no sign of the other four, aside from a boot. When the car was pulled from the river, it was empty. The family of Reece Rollins took to social media last week, frustrated that authorities called off the official search and claiming the Sheriff's Office hasn't done enough. Sheriff Giddings understands their anger, "It's tough; they're just gone. It's like, you've got them here and then they're gone. You can't see them, they're gone. It's one of the worst feelings that a parent could have. And they want you to get them and we can't, and no matter what we do, we can't."

 

The area has seen massive snow-melt in recent weeks, and Giddings says the Selway is running high and fast. The agency called in float and ground teams from both Idaho and Montana, a fast-water diver, search dogs, and a helicopter. Yet, all efforts have failed to find 22-year-old Rollins and the others in his hunting party - 21-year-old Koby Clark of Bozeman, Montana, and brothers Raymond and Jesse Ferrieri, of Mahopac Falls, New York. The Ferrieri family has reached out to President Trump for help, through social media (above).

 

Giddings says they've done everything they can, "On all searches, there has to be an end to it at some time. And so, we make that determination when we believe it's no longer a search because they're not there to be found, and it reverts to a recovery operation. Well, there's no recovery possible because they're in the river, and they're gone, so we're not searching and we're not recovering; we're now waiting." But, he tells KBND News he's not giving up, "There's a very good possibility that we'll fly a helicopter again; there's a very good possibility that we'll float the river again. That could happen down the road, but not until the water goes down."

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