The Blaine County Sheriff’s office in Idaho hasn’t closed the case for Park City resident Fern Baird, who went missing while hiking in October 2020, but there is no active search for her.
62-year-old Baird was last heard from Monday, October 19th, 2020 when she signed into the Prairie Creek Trailhead, north of Ketchum, Idaho. Three days later, after she was reported missing, the Blaine County Sheriff Search and Rescue actively searched for Baird for 10 days and suspended the search after one last major operation was held in November, just before the snow fell.
Blaine County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Abaid told KPCW that there is no active search. While the case remains open, he says they have no leads to go on. Search and Rescue teams did some training in the area this summer, he says but they weren’t able to find anything.
While they may never know what happened, he says the likely scenario is that something happened while she was hiking – or that she got lost and bedded down and died of exposure. While there is plenty of wildlife in the area, he say they have nothing concrete to move forward with. He says there is definitely some difficult terrain in the area, and some spots that she could have fallen down, depending on which way she went.
Baird was known in Park City as an active community member who has spent years volunteering at local organizations.
Her family was offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to her discovery. If you have any information, you can call the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office at (208) 578-3371.
