Missing Kalispell hunter's body found in Beaverhead County

by The Daily Inter Lake
| September 28, 2015 8:31 AM

Searchers found the body of a missing Kalispell hunter Sunday afternoon approximately one mile from where he had parked his truck in the woods near Wisdom, Montana.

Rob Carter Jr. , 53, last had contact with his wife Barbara on Sept. 16. He was expected home from his bowhunting trip on Sept. 20, but his wife became worried about his silence and contacted Beaverhead County Sheriff’s Office.

Carter was a popular Whitefish High School track coach and Plum Creek Timber Co. employee. Many of his friends and family had joined the search in Beaverhead County.

Sheriff Franklin D. Kluesner II issued a press release late Sunday night: “This afternoon a deceased bow hunter was located by a Beaverhead Search and Rescue ground team. The Beaverhead County Sheriff and Coroner positively identified the bow hunter as Robert Carter Jr. ...The cause of death is being determined by the coroner and state Medical Examiner’s Office.”

According to a Facebook page dedicated to the search, Carter’s body was found near Big Hole Battlefield National Park.

"It is with the deepest sorrow we report Rob has been found leaning peacefully with God against a tree," wrote Rachel VanRinsum on the Facebook page. "The Carter Family wishes to thank everyone who selflessly gave so much support. Words will never begin to convey the love, prayers and support we have felt all week and know we will continue to feel through the loss of our son, husband, brother, father, grandfather, uncle and friend."

The Beaverhead County Sheriff’s Office and Beaverhead Search and Rescue had been assisted in the weeklong search by numerous agencies and volunteers, including Flathead County Sheriff and Search and Rescue, Ravalli County Sheriff and Search and Rescue, the Madison County Search and Rescue, Two Bear Air, Butte Lifeflight, search dog teams from Montana and Canada, private fixed wing and helicopters, an aerial drone company from Montana, Plum Creek Lumber Company, the Beaverhead National Forest Wisdom Ranger District, Montana DNRC Dillon Office, hundreds of citizens from western Montana, and the friends and family of Carter.