A 27-year-old Pickens man who left his Ponderosa Road home for what should have been a normal Tuesday morning commute in early August is now the subject of a wilderness search nearly 2,000 miles away, after his car was found abandoned on a remote mountain road in central Idaho.
Soloman Wilkins was first reported missing by the Pickens County Sheriff's Office on August 4 after he left home around 8 a.m. and never showed up for work, according to WSNW. Authorities investigated the sudden and unexplained disappearance.
Just two days later, on August 6, the Pickens County Sheriff's Office temporarily cleared Wilkins from missing person status, according to the agency's Facebook update. Deputies said they found no indication of a criminal matter at that time.
A Cross-Country Trail Goes Cold in the Mountains
Investigators traced Wilkins driving his blue 2011 Toyota Corolla, bearing South Carolina plate 6003QV, through Missouri and into Wyoming, where he checked into and then left a hotel alone on August 5, per the Pickens County Sheriff's Office and reported by FOX Carolina News. That paper trail of surveillance footage and lodging records gave law enforcement a physical route westward following his departure from South Carolina.
The trail resurfaced hundreds of miles further west when the Valley County Sheriff's Office in Idaho reported that a man from Pickens County was missing after his Corolla was discovered abandoned near Meadow Creek Lookout. The vehicle may have been parked at that location for several weeks, according to the sheriff's office. The Pickens County Sheriff's Office has been in contact with Valley County deputies and has agreed to assist with the investigation, the outlet's report notes.
Why a Sedan Struggling to Reach That Spot Matters
Meadow Creek Lookout is a 1930s U.S. Forest Service fire lookout in the Salmon River Mountains, according to IDAHO: A Climbing Guide. Reaching it requires a route from Yellow Pine, the same guide notes. Wilkins' Corolla was found there.
The terrain sits within Valley County. The area is remote backcountry. The canyons around Yellow Pine and Stibnite are remote.
Weekend Search Turns Up Nothing
A specialized backcountry team and Valley County Search and Rescue conducted ground and aerial searches over the weekend before September 1 around Meadow Creek Lookout, Stibnite, and Yellow Pine, but found no sign of Wilkins. The search area covers Stibnite, Yellow Pine, Meadow Creek and the surrounding backcountry.
On August 31, the Valley County Sheriff's Office put out a public appeal asking anyone who frequented the Meadow Creek, Stibnite, or Yellow Pine backcountry in August to contact dispatch at (208) 382-5160 with any potential sightings of Wilkins or his blue Corolla. Deputies are trying to pin down when the car first arrived at the lookout, a detail that could help narrow the search.
Back home, Wilkins is remembered as a Pickens High School graduate who once played euphonium in the South Carolina Band Directors Association's Region 1 Senior Band, according to the association's 2016 roster. What drew him from a quiet stretch of Ponderosa Road to one of the most isolated corners of the Idaho backcountry remains unknown, and search teams have not said whether they believe he attempted to hike from the vehicle or encountered some other emergency in a region where help is nearly impossible to summon.
