Friday morning update

It feels like we really called out the cavalry on Thursday, with several talented and knowledgeable people helping out with the search, some of whom drove from as far as Bozeman or Helena. Sadly, no sightings of Nancy and George to report.

More and more people are out there searching. Monday it was just me and our friend Rodger, Tuesday there were a couple others searching, even more on Wednesday, and Thursday the area was busier than all week, and everyone I saw out there was either searching for Nancy and George or keeping an eye out for them while doing something else. For example, I saw two guys in a Forest Service truck coming the other way on Quartz Hill Road Thursday afternoon and I waved to them to stop (as I do with everyone I see out there), and when the driver saw Isaac he immediately said "is that Nancy or George?!" Everyone knows, and many of you have helped spread the word; thank you.

Now we're headed into the weekend, when more people will be out in the mountains on their ATVs. So although we haven't found them yet, there's reason to hope somebody will. For reasons I'll briefly cover below, it seems clear now that the two mostly likely possibilities are that they have traveled a great distance, or that some asshole has them. For the latter possibility, we've done what we can with the $5000 no-questions-asked reward, and for the other possibility we're going to intensify the search in a larger area. Until we know Nancy and George aren't out there, we owe it to them to spend every waking hour trying to find them.

After our early morning outing Thursday, Isaac and I went back in the early afternoon for a few hours. We drove around all the areas where food and water has been left out (no action there), and we talked to several people who were searching.

The searcher with the most local knowledge is a man named Keith knows every detail of this area and drove on Thursday each of the rough ATV tracks that nobody else had reported as searched yet, as well as some other places. He spent all day on this – thanks, Keith! His family has a deep connection to this area; as an example of that, he told us that the ashes of his father (who worked in the mines) were scattered on the hillside across from where Nancy and George were last spotted.

Isaac and I met up with a guy named Mike who is an experienced hunter and tracker, and drove all the way from Helena with his three hunting dogs Ruby, Rosie, and Blue. Thanks, Mike! (Ruby and Rosie are sisters, and Blue is the lighter-colored boy in the photos below.)

It was fascinating to watch the way Mike worked with the dogs. He would get them excited about playing with Mr. Squirrel, then pretend to throw the toy in a direction. When the dogs all turned to look in that direction, he would deftly hide Mr. Squirrel in his shirt behind his neck, then urge them to go find the toy. They would then run off, sniffing around, and report any spot that reminded them of Mr. Squirrel.

The dogs confirmed that Nancy and George had been in places around the cabin, and from their investigations it seemed clear that Nancy and George had headed down Quartz Hill Road after they left.

Isaac was amazing. He seemed to know that they were doing something important. He usually barks at other dogs when he's in the truck, sometimes aggressively, but he just watched intensely in silence.

I took Isaac home and then returned alone to meet up with Eric from Skyhound, a drone company in Bozeman. He followed me in his truck, and we drove up the rough road to the top of Vipond just before sunset to do infrared thermal drone searches. (This technology works best just after dark, when direct sunlight isn't heating up rocks and things.)

We scanned the area of several square miles all around where Nancy and George were last sighted, including all the spots that aren't accessible by humans, and found no dogs. It was fascinating to be able to see deer and elk walking in thick forests after dark – I'm convinced we'd have seen Nancy and George if they were there.

Poster update. We've been putting black and white posters on trailheads and roads, which is fine for that purpose, but today Megan and Aaron we'll be putting them up in a bunch of businesses in towns around the area. To help them pop out on crowded bulletin boards, Megan took the time to get a bunch of color versions printed this morning at Staples when they opened, and we're using those now. Click here for a copy of the latest poster.

Weather. The weather has been mostly nice this week, with some high winds Wednesday and Thursday and a few short heavy showers. We have great weather today (Friday), then the forecast is for rain Saturday and some snow on Sunday. The snow won't bother Nancy and George, of course, but it would be great to find them before then.

We're heading out to do what we can today. We have several people continuing to search or keep an eye out around Quartz Hill Road and Vipond, so we're focusing on the expanded area. Will do another update when we can. Thank you all for your support.