A Montana man who was riding his motorcycle through Idaho with friends has been missing since Sunday, and authorities had reported no new leads on the man’s whereabouts Tuesday afternoon.
Zachary DeMoss, 24, was riding his Kawasaki Vulcan 2000 with ape-hanger handlebars and spikes on the end of each grip near Kooskia, Idaho, on Sunday afternoon before he went missing, according to a Facebook post by his friend, Aly Phan.
The Idaho County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Cowboy State Daily that the post reflects a legitimate missing person case. Both the Idaho County Sheriff and Chief Deputy were searching in the area Tuesday morning, dispatch supervisor Stephanie Babb Cowboy State Daily.
Phan and others had last had contact with DeMoss in Kooskia, Idaho. That was also the last place he used his debit or credit card, the post says.
“He gave us a head start since he is the more experienced rider in our group of three,” wrote Phan, who said she’d also been riding with Devlin Zarn.
Neither Phan nor Zarn responded to Facebook message requests for comment. Neither could be reached via phone by publication time.
A short while later, DeMoss caught up to the pair and passed them ahead of a construction zone. They’d planned to meet up about 50 miles up the road or head to Lolo, Montana, if they couldn’t find each other on the road, says the post.
Vanished
Phan and Zarn saw DeMoss’s bike — without him — pulled off the road on the Eagle Mountain Trailhead along the pass on Route 12 at about 4:30 p.m. They stopped at the next pullout, waited, then turned back to the same pullout where they has just seen DeMoss’s abandoned Vulcan, says the post.
The bike was gone.
“We assume(d) he turned back to find us after not seeing us, since we did not pass him on the way back to the trailhead,” the post says, adding that the two searchers were low on gas and their back tire was starting to show threads. They waited at Eagle Pass for two hours, left a “large, noticeable note” in the gravel of the pullout, then went on to Lolo as planned.
At a Cenex gas station just outside Lolo they waited another hour, says the post.
“We flagged down every biker and car behind us at both the trailhead, a car accident we checked out on the way and at the Lolo gas stations,” the post continues. “No one had passed him or seen him.”
The pair had a friend pick them up in a truck and drive them back through the pass to Idaho and check every pullout and possible accident until about 4 a.m. Monday. They’ve also called DeMoss’s phone — it goes straight to voicemail — and they’ve checked his home in Victor, Montana, but they have found no trace of him, says the post.
None of DeMoss’s friends or his parents have heard from them, and cellphone service is spotty from Kooskia to Lolo.
Babb agreed with that assessment, saying the coverage is spotty along the whole route.
“His dog, family and friends are extremely worried,” wrote Phan, who pleaded with others to share her post.
Mechanical, Sensible
DeMoss is a mechanic with a fair amount of common sense, Frank Anderson, DeMoss’s former employer, told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
“That’s what’s so strange. He’s very mechanical,” said Anderson. “If his bike broke down or something, he’d probably be able to fix it or something like that. It doesn’t make sense that he just disappeared off the face of the road.”
Anderson said he has spoken to DeMoss’s parents, and they’ve been searching in the area where DeMoss went missing.
DeMoss is a “great young man,” said Anderson. “He used to work for me … and I consider him a friend now.”
DeMoss’s parents could not be reached by phone Tuesday prior to publication.
Drone, Helicopter
Idaho State Police are helping the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office with the search, Babb said.
She wasn’t aware of new leads Tuesday morning, but said she hadn’t had contact with her units on scene as of midmorning.
A life flight network flew a helicopter over the region Tuesday morning and didn’t see anything. Foot searchers are scouring the area with a drone.
Several civilian searchers have joined the effort.
As far as the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office is aware, DeMoss does not have any medical conditions or recurring problems with his Vulcan, Babb said.
A missing person poster describes him as standing 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weighing 300 pounds. His photos show a man with a beard, mustache and dark reddish hair just above shoulder length standing next to a black Vulcan with saddlebags and a pack of camping gear on the back.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
