Two teens, ages 13 and 14, went missing while hunting in Boise County, Idaho, after becoming separated from their hunting party and failing to return to a designated pickup spot. They were found safe after an overnight search, as darkness fell and temperatures dropped across the backcountry.
The teens went missing on Halloween, according to KTVB, after they split from the rest of their group earlier that day and never showed up where they were supposed to be picked up. The Boise County Sheriff's Office said it received a call from a family member on Tuesday, prompting deputies to launch a coordinated, multi-agency search.
Crews Race Against Dropping Temperatures
Once the call came in, the sheriff's office said the response moved fast, with crews working through the night to locate the missing teens. Officials said darkness setting in and falling temperatures made the situation time-critical, according to the same KTVB report. Boise County search and rescue teams combed the ground while a helicopter equipped with a thermal camera scanned from above.
Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue joined Boise County's own search and rescue teams to help cover the terrain, per the report. The sheriff's office has not said what time the teens were ultimately found, though it confirmed both were located safe. Afterward, officials thanked everyone involved and praised the training, dedication, and teamwork of the searchers.
Another Missing-Teens Search in Boise County
Boise County has also had a search for missing teens. In February 2025, two teens went missing in the Terrace Lakes area near Garden Valley and were found safe, according to a separate KTVB report.
Similar searches have played out elsewhere in Idaho's backcountry. In Fremont County, an overdue hunter who had become separated from his hunting partner was found safe after an hourslong search, with crews dispatched to the Warm River Butte area at 8:30 p.m., according to EastIdahoNews.com. When responders could not ping the hunter's cellphone, Air Idaho joined in with an aircraft grid search of the area.
In Owyhee County, a party of four hunters — three adults and a young boy — failed to return home on a Saturday before searchers located them and brought them safely home, as KIVI-TV reported. That search brought together Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue, the Owyhee County Sheriff's Office, and the Idaho Army National Guard.
Each of these cases ended the way families hope for: with searchers working through difficult terrain and worsening conditions to bring hunters home safe. For the two teens in Boise County, the sheriff's office's message after the search was one of gratitude for the crews who found them.
